New Drawing

Me and Moko ready to take a bath. Also, if you were wondering - yes, you're going colorblind. 

I've been digging this song recently.

I'll write something with some more substance later on - I feel as if my life is on pause right now. See ya

Fall Color

This is the house this afternoon. The leaves are coming down pretty well now. The lawn mower takes care of them pretty well. Joy is making chicken and minestrone soup now that the weather has changed. If you look closely at the front door you will see a wreath she redecorates with each season change. Below is the second installment of the time lapse documentation of the mural. I have 3 students interning with me to help with the project. Bessie keeps me company when the interns are away.

Mural Commission Begins

Starting a commission from my university for a 6'x18' mural. Here we are building the first support for the painting.

11 pounds of evidence

I've just finished my application for tenure and promotion to Associate Professor. The binders hold 250+ pages and weigh in at 11 pounds. In the application, I had to speak to the last five years of my career at the university, give examples of my work, students work, speak to scholarship, teaching, and service to the university. I've been working consistently for the last month to get it together. I won't find out till April of 2013 whether I am awarded tenure. It feels good to get it in, and Joy has been invaluable as a proof reader.

Latest Exhibitions

Just delivered work to the gallery in West Haven where they will exhibit my current body of work painted over the last year and a half. It feels good to see the work together in a space other than my studio. Here is the announcement for the show.

Also on view is an exhibition of my sketchbook drawings up at Willamette University in Oregon. The title of the exhibition is "The Hand that Finds, the Hand that Feeds, the Hand that Fails". The curator of the exhibition, a long time friend and colleague of mine from Sacramento, has written an intriguing statement about the artistic process and the work in the exhibition. You can read that Here. It is nice and a little frightening to see the studio depleted of paintings.

Freddie's Lives!

Dad and Van with Van's new jacket, Dad's old fast pitch baseball team jacket. Freddie's Fast Pitch was the nickname. Some fun stories about that mid-eighties team Dad was on in the mid 80's in Madison, WI. I'll let Dad tell them in person! But as the axiom everything old is new, Van loved Dad's old jacket, relegated to our attic closet. Freddie's lives on, baby!

Van is good at nicknames. I'm "little sister." Dad is "fast pitch" and Van is "slow pitch." Debra is the only one who can call me Neve or Nevsky. Dad still uses "J Brown" from Grandpa Maurice. Any nicknames out there, family?

New Piece

Things have been going well for me this year. It's been good to be home after Europe. I'm trying to finish a few paintings for a show that opens in September. This is the latest painting on the easel. "Light is the Lion that Comes Down to Drink" Oil on Canvas. the title is from a Wallace Stevens poem, "the glass of water".

The University has commissioned me to do a mural for their new student commons. It will be 6'x18' and will be the most money I've made from a single painting. I will be working on it all of the academic year and into next summer. The proposal was based on Raphael's School of Athens, which I had the opportunity to present to students on the study abroad trip in Rome.

July Updates

...Summer is going by too fast. Only four weeks left before it's back to school. Highlights from last semester: Attending UNR for the first time, and co-attending Sierra College with severe vertigo and a 30 decibel hearing loss in my left ear that didn't immediately start to improve after the mastoid ventilation tube surgery. I will most likely have some permanent hearing loss but am so thankful to be able to converse with people easily again and hear well. It was an event that made me aware of how isolating and marginalizing it is to have hearing loss (even though mine was partial). I stopped trying to communicate because it was so hard. Couldn't enjoy music or TV. After a lot of soul-searching I decided to stay in school full-time and somehow made it through with prayers and tenaciousness, and support of Mom and Dad. I'm so glad I did: Highlights include being the defense co-counsel for a mock trial months in the preparation, including an unfolding murder scene on campus orchestrated by our professor, a real-life sheriff's deputy and some of his co-workers. We got our guy off murder charges (we argued self-defense) and had the trial in front of high-schoolers in their campus theater. Our whole class had roles including CSI, officers on scene, FBI, etc. and we had a pretty big dossier of reports by the end. I began to feel more at home on the big UNR campus (18,000 students vs. 500 at our local college!) and made it to class through a few snowstorms. We just got back from a trip to Monterey and Los Angeles, just six days total including driving time. Always a good thing to change it up and see new things and people, fresh experiences that help you re-frame your "regular life"....Today, after heading to the gym, I was hanging up a few posters for a local nonprofit in our downtown and happened upon the local jail, now a historical site. I stopped in for a brief tour from two very knowledgeable guides and got a view of frontier justice. Thought you'd enjoy a few glimpses of our last couple weeks. Hope you all have a summer with surprises and delights, and most of all, family.
Safe travels and returns home!

Thanks for the summer photos, Geneva! Here's our batch from the trip to California a few weeks ago. If anyone has any ideas, feel free to suggest your own captions. All the best, Matt

Photo #1
Gives new meaning to "family tree".
From top to bottom: me, Sasha (Lyena's cousin), Olivia, Alex, April, Lyena, Mom

Photo #2

Photo #3

Photo #4
I think I saw a squirrel! I did, I did, George! I did see a squirrel!

Photo #5
Who needs Kryptonite when Superboy is ticklish?

Photo #6
Belly Flop Champion of 2012

Photo #7

Summer Photos

finally, a few photos! After a nice family lunch together, we spent a little time at East Portal park in Sacramento; some of us rested in the shade while others played an impromptu football game. We also got to meet Van's (Debra's partner) daughter Ebony, who is visiting from Texas. Despite our numerous attempts at group photos, none were perfect, but freeze a moment in time beautifully, nonetheless!

Posting Abroad.

Hey There. In France now. Both the study abroad trip and the travel grant were accepted so I've been in Italy,Germany, and now France for a few weeks. Tomorrow I will leave for Belgium where Joy will meet me for a week in Ghent, Antwerp, and Brussels. Here is a pic of some cranes nesting on one of the churches here in Colmar, France.

Geneva, Here is my playlist: 1.Wolf Parade- In the direction of the Moon 2.Animal Collective- Unsolved Mysteries 3.Frank Black Francis- Rock'a my Soul 4. Soul Stirrers- His Eye is on the Sparrow (favorite of Gene) 5. Hank Williams- Ramblin' Man 6. Morning Benders-Cold War 7. LCD Soundsystem-Thrills 8. Dr. Dog-From 9.Bob Dylan- Hard Rain's gonna Fall 10. Joanna Newsom- Jack Rabbits 11. Chet Baker- There will never be another you 12. Os Mutantes- A Minha Menina 13. Tender Buttons- Tears in the Typing Pool Here are a few embedded to have a listen

Spector - Never Fade Away (Later with Jools Holland)

 I had so much fun reading Anastasia's description of her concertgoing! Thanks for all the details including the souvenir guitar pick. I thought I'd share my new favorite song from the British Isles. I think they (Spector) remind me a little of The Smiths and Morrissey (old habits are hard to break!)

After a very intense and challenging semester is now over, I'm starting to feel a bit more cognizant. I'll check in soon with some family pictures and some updates.

Until then, here's a challenge: Share a Playlist! (since we all like music, what is a playlist title w/ songs you are willing to share with the group? NO EXEMPTIONS related to embarrassing songs!

I'll Start: "GYM PLAYLIST" (these songs always get me going!)

Justin Bieber/ "Baby"
N.W.A./ "Straight Outta Compton"
Gwen Stefani/ "Hollaback Girl"
Tupac/ "Holler If Ya Hear Me"
            "Keep Ya Head Up"
            "California Love"
Amy Winehouse/ "Rehab"
Survivor/ "Eye of the Tiger"
           

-G

Concert trophies

Yesterday I got back from London where I stayed to see a "Girls" gig. I had a really good time - I prepared for the day a lot, got to the venue early, had enough to eat and drink, saved a space in the front row.. There was a really friendly security guard in the photographer are between the stage and the crowd, and at the end I made gestures at him so he would grab the pick the guitarist dropped and give it to me. He did :) 

Also, the band threw flowers into the audience at the end. I caught one of the first batches (afraid there would be no more) and when I caught more, I threw them into the back for other fans.

Here's a picture of me with the flowers and the pick. Ignore the messy room, strange hair and tired face :)

This is a video of one of the band's songs, if you're interested. A band called "Weird Dreams" was supporting, they're pretty good too, I've been listening to them all day long.

Lost in Translation

I'm in the middle of a seminar on the Catholic Intellectual Tradition. Yesterday's speaker said, "the church has many attics and cellars." What I heard was "the church has many addicts and sellers".

Double Rainbow

Dad, does this fellow remind you of anybody? He really gets carried away with his message. :)

Hot doggin'

Here's Alex hotdoggin' for the crowd. He's had his scooter for about 2 weeks now and is always experimenting with new moves.

Hope you're feeling young and spry this morning, Dad! Here's wishing you a fun-filled birthday! Love from all of us, Matt, Elena, Anastasia (missed her in this photo), Olivia, April, Alex and Moko P.S. - Our neighbors now think we're crazy.

Aria from Bach's St. John's Passion

Amazing version of Bach's aria "Es ist Vollbracht" (it is fulfilled). I've listened to it for years. Amazing to see it performed and how young the singer is. Viola da Gamba player is amazing. I believe Nikolaus Harnoncourt is the conductor.

And the Oscar goes to.....

Each year we have a student show and awards are given for each category. This year I converted a couple of water skiing trophies into painting awards for the winning students. Never has Painting seemed so Noble.

. I was a visiting artist at Kingswood Oxford School in West Hartford. I was invited to have an exhibition, speak to the school (600) about my work and life, and to work on a project with their art students.

It's been a very busy month. In addition to being the artist in residence, I did a couple of info sessions for a study abroad program that I devised with a colleague of mine. We will be teaching a group of 11 students in Rome and Berlin this Summer. I also wrote a 10 page grant proposal to study a couple altarpieces in France and Belgium. One way or the other, I will make it to Europe this Summer. These are the altarpieces.

The Ghent Altarpiece.


The Isenheim Altarpiece

Bessie our cat, loves to play and loves to run up and launch herself on top of the bed. I was so impressed with her jumping abilities, I photographed it.


She was such a good sport, I built her a scratching post tower. (I may have overdone the stand a bit. )
I'm afraid I'm turning into one of those old ladies that continually posts pictures of her cat.

Alright, that's it! I can't take it anymore. Get me outta here!

THE ADVENTURES OF SUPERBOY

We watched Superman the other night, and since then Alex has been flying around the apartment. April even made him a big "S" to wear on his chest when airborne.

Videochat Karaoke - Zooey Deschanel, Yesterday Once More

Life Is A Mountain...

And sometimes the climb is a little hard! Here is a picture from yesterday: You know how I like to take unflattering photos! This caption would say: "I think I'm going to make it!"

One day before school started I found out that my three-week ear infection that was excruciatingly painful and caused me to lose the ability to hear in my left ear was, in fact, mastoiditis. I told the fantastic ENT who got to the bottom of the nightmare as he brought in the CT scans with a diagnosis: "This sounds major." He nodded. Fortunately, after a bone-specific antibiotic and surgery to drain the middle ear and insert a ventilating tube two weeks ago I feel I have a good chance of recovery. Still need to be monitored, though. Very scary stuff and it made me acutely aware of how connected hearing and sound conduction is to communication and feeling comfortable with others and yourself. This week will be the quarter mark of the semester and Thank God, I have made it through so far. Three criminal justice classes which I love and one in humanities.

I've been re-training my ear with none other than The Carpenters (Karen Carpenter has such a beautiful voice) so wanted to share the "adorkable" Zooey Deschanel version of "Yesterday Once More."

-G

If I know people are waiting for new posts I'll post more!

As some of you know, sometimes I write about my school on my blog. I haven't been keeping it up that well so far, I only have four posts, but hopefully I'll get used to fairly consistent updates.

I've had a good night - we had a chocolate fountain (not) working downstairs, (the chocolate was melted anyway) and nice fruits for snacks so that was sweet.

Also I discovered a song that some of you might enjoy, so here goes:

My Cat is Cooler than Yours

Newest member of the Pepe/Lewis family.

Here is a video of Bessie, our new kitten. She's definitely a rascal, and pretty confident. She already responds to our voices, and we found out quickly how much she loves Snuggies. She is exploring the house and this morning discovered the stairs.