Visiting the Pollock Krasner House

Doug and I arrived in the Hamptons on Wednesday. We first stopped in Southampton so I could meet the gallery owner that is trying out my work. She shows some very nice work, mostly pretty realistic imagery. My paintings (she has two) looked good and she said they have received a lot of attention, however neither have sold yet. Of course it is a slow summer for sales (stupid economy) and I think they will do better if she decides to take a few more paintings, so that they will make more sense.

Anyway, we had some extra time before dinner and even though our reservation was for the next day, we decided to drive out the Pollock Krasner House. We found it easily, it is very close to the road and I have to say that we both were a bit overwhelmed to see it in real life. I guess that sounds silly, but we have both read the books about their life there and have seen the movie, so we feel close to it all somehow. And knowing that the art that was created there had a profound effect on the course of American art, well that was just amazing.

Turns out we brought the cold rainy weather with us to the Hamptons so my pictures look a bit dreary but I am putting up the photos that I took of the house and yard. No cameras are allowed inside the studio, so Doug and I posed for cheesy tourist photos outside the studio building:



Images of the interior of the studio can be seen here.

So, like I said the house is pretty close to the road; there is a hedge in front and I was standing right at the end of the driveway when I took this one:

To the left of the driveway are several outbuildings (including the outhouse that they used for several years-the house had no plumbing or electric when they moved in). The studio is the wood shingled building:


This is the view from the back of the house:

The boulders are the same ones where the photograph was taken of Jackson Pollock (with Ruth Kligman) on the last day of his life. Beyond the boulders you can see the previous foundation of the barn/studio, which was moved because it was blocking the view of the bay from the house. The foundation is also where Jackson was filmed while painting on glass so that his face could be seen while he worked; the event that set him off on a brutal drinking binge.

The back door of the house opens right into the kitchen:


The kitchen table:

Evidently the house has been preserved pretty much as Lee Krasner left it. She lived and worked there until her death in 1984. She also worked in Pollock's studio after his death and bits of her colors and marks can be seen on the walls where she painted. Seeing that was awesome! As much as I appreciate Pollock's work, I actually like Lee Krasner's work better.

Anyway, the kitchen is open to the dining room where there is a huge round table (they had many guests out in the Springs):
and to the left hangs the anchor they found on the beach. This is the spot where an iconic photo of Jackson and Lee was taken:


And beyond the dining room is a small living room. There are shelves filled with books and and Jackson's extensive jazz record collection. Unfortunately, I got rushed through that room, I would have liked to have spent more time looking at the books and records.....


Upstairs are two bedrooms. This is the one that Jackson and Lee shared (they had twin beds!):


And Doug was intrigued by the old suitcases:

and when he looked closer, he insisted I photograph this:

The other bedroom was initially Jackson's studio when they first moved into the house (Lee worked in the kitchen) and after he began working in the barn, Lee moved into the room. I wish I had gotten better photograph of this room. It looked as if it had been used as an office space later on by Lee, and was pretty basic.



I liked the house quite a bit. The rooms are all open and it feels very spacious. It is very simple and spare and I envy that. I tend to want a lot of things around me, plus we have four kids so there is a natural clutter that follows us around. But someday I swear I will live in a clean, white sparse space. Well, maybe.

Our little tour group spent quite a bit of time in the studio. We all put on super fashionable foam slippers and walked on the actual floor that Pollock painted on. There was a written and pictorial history of both the working habits of Jackson and Lee. The light was amazing and the space really had a good feel to it. I wanted to stay and paint!!!

Seeing this house and property in person had a profound effect on both Doug and I. I wrote about the connection I felt to their move out to the country here. So funny to read this old post now but actually I still feel the same way about creating art on the beautiful farm where I live. Unfortunately, Doug has neglected his art in the years since we moved here and so we spent some time on the drive home making some plans concerning OUR barn for his use (seems like the separation is on hold, more on that another time).

Our day was not over but I think I will save the rest for another post. Must. Paint. Now.

Away We Go!

The Barn Next Door, 2009, Oil on Birch Panel, 12x6

Well, I have actually wanted to post over the last few days but things have been crazy here! Between finishing up the last minute details on the work for my show, getting my daughters all packed and off to summer camp and getting things ready for a short trip this week, it has been hectic.

But now the girls are at camp, tucked into their tents in the woods, my work was delivered to the gallery yesterday, and before I get started on cleaning the house and packing today, I thought I'd put up a quick post about our upcoming trip.

Ever since I saw the movie 'Pollock' and then read the book it was based on, I have always wanted to visit their house and studio out in the Hamptons. It's quite a hike from here, at least a 6 hour drive and so Doug and I kept putting off plans to go. But now since we are separating (yes, it's true, no further details available, but I will say it's been the reason for my difficult time earlier this year and also that it is an amicable split. I promise;)) we have decided that we should take this trip with each other, NOW before we put it off again. Neither of us can imagine seeing the Pollock-Krasner home without the other and so off we go tomorrow.

I will be back on Monday with a full update!

My Studio Feels Like an Empty Uterus

Much enjoyment, happiness, good energy, frustration, worry and stress here in my studio in the last few months. Then in a mad rush, everything is out the door and I am left with more than a few things to clean up. Hopefully I did my job right though and my paintings will be able to function and attract others out in the real world.

The delivery itself though was not without some drama. I was about 10 miles away from Williamstown, thoroughly enjoying Dixie Kitchen by my girl crush Mary Gauthier, when the tire light lit up on my dashboard. I was hoping to get somewhere but was on a long and very empty stretch of road. Soon I was hearing a flapping sound from the rear tire and so I pulled over into a driveway. Completely flat tire! Luckily there was cell service and I called the gallery, they called someone and within about a half hour someone came out to change my tire. I actually know how to change a tire, but the rub here is that I am quite sure I would have never figured out how to get the dang spare tire out of my newfangled car! It was very complicated. You have to do about 14 things and then the spare drops out from the underside of the car and then you have to do about ten more maneuvers to release it. Anyway, the guy changed my tire in about two minutes, took my flat to get it patched, I went on to the gallery to drop off my work. I spent some time chatting and we discussed the work. I was relieved that they LOVED the large panel (shown below, and I MUST insist to you all yet again that the painting is infinitely better in real life), sure did not want to drag that one home and back up the stairs to my attic studio! I did however, have to take back some unsold work, which always sucks just a little. Stupid economy! These were pieces that definitely would have sold a year ago......

I then went off to find the tire place, they put my patched tire back on and I was on my way back home. But somehow, even though I take this drive all the time, I missed a turn! Maybe it was Ray LaMontagne's fault, as he was singing very loudly in my car. It took awhile before I realized the wrong turn (Ray is my boy crush) and after I did it then took me forever to get back to the highway I wanted to be on, not to mention having to wade through tons of 5 o'clock traffic in an unfamiliar area. Blech!

But I eventually made it home and today am looking at a messy, but empty studio. I will clean it up though, put things away, reorganize, get some energy back and will soon be interested in starting the whole process all over again.

Just gotta love the whole process!

This Day, 2009, Oil on Birch Panel, 40x60

Sunday is For Road Trips

Two Trees in Front, 2007, Oil on Panel, 16x20

Sunday was the perfect day for a road trip. I decided to go visit Gary at his Open Studio, which is only about a two hour drive from our town. This time I took my son, Julien as he was very interested to see a potter's studio. He has taken pottery for years and LOVES his throwing class. He is deeply disappointed to be missing the fall pottery session due to playing on the football team. A football playing potter-our kids are well rounded! Anyway, Julien is pretty good company when he is not in his I-know-everything mode. I tortured him with my ipod on the way there and he tortured me with his ipod on the way home. Every time Lucinda began to sing he let out a loud, irritated sigh and I was lucky enough to hear each and every song ever recorded by Weird Al Yankovic. Heh. I never expected that I would ever have to listen to "Like a Surgeon" or "Eat It" ever again. I nearly wept with relief when he switched over to his other playlist that included The Beatles and Modest Mouse.

We had a lovely visit with Gary and his wife Maude. They are very nice and it was fun to see their purple house as well as Gary's studio and work. He gave a couple of demonstrations on his pottery wheel which were cool and my son is all jazzed up to throw a pitcher or a tall vase rather than the bowls he has been doing. Oh yeah, and we did a little shopping!

The late afternoon light was incredible on the drive home and I stopped a number of times to take pictures (which elicited more deep sighs from Julien). Good timing because I have to begin another batch of paintings today for the Pittsburgh show today and I could really use some new images.

Ok, I did my social thing, now it's back to work!

Retrieving Art and Music

Two Trees In Front, 2007, Oil on Panel, 16x20

Sunday I took a break from working in the garden and drove down to Roxbury. A few weeks ago I received word that the gallery would be closing at the end of November and so I wanted to retrieve my work from their inventory. I have been exhibiting there for almost two years and it was a good experience. I had a three person show and a solo show, plus my work was included in a couple of group shows. Sales were modest, but pretty good considering the gallery is located in such a small community. I found several new collectors (yes I mean you, Brian) and showing there really helped raise my profile in upstate NY. But as I move into galleries in larger cities, it becomes more difficult to continue to sell my work in the smaller areas. So losing this gallery doesn't feel like a bad thing for me, however, it's unfortunate that Roxbury is losing such a good fine arts venue.

The ride home was excellent. It was a nice, sunny day with great light and I stopped several times to take photographs to use as reference for future paintings. And holy cow, my iPod was really throwing out some good songs. At one point it played a string of seven songs, each of which break my heart in totally different ways.

"Jack and Diane" John Mellencamp back when he was John Cougar. Reminds me of high school.

"Martha" Tom Waits. Oh the pain of talking to an old lover!

"Welcome to the Jungle" Guns N'Roses. Gotta love totally raucous noise once in awhile.

"With or Without You" U2. I can't even tell you all how much I loved Bono in the 80's. He was my man, my one true love. I know he would have loved me too if we could have made eye contact, just once...

"Car Wheels on A Gravel Road" Lucinda Williams. Everything that Lucinda sings breaks my heart.

"It Ain't Over Til It's Over" Lenny Kravitz. Love the sound of this one and well, I loved Lenny too. I am very fickle, sorry Bono.

"Hallelujah" Jeff Buckley. Showcases Jeff Buckley's incredible voice and heart and makes me feel sad that he is gone.

Then I skipped a few and came to "Gimme Shelter" by Patti Smith. I had a sore throat trying to keep up with Patti (not possible) by the time I pulled into the driveway.

A very good day.

Left Ear or Right?

Tilting, 2007, Oil on Panel, 8x10

Well, after the pride I expressed in my last post about how well things are going lately (and thanks so much to all of you who were so pleased for me about all of that), I was brought back down to earth this weekend. In a very gentle manner, at least.

Saturday morning I loaded up my car with 19 paintings and my daughter and began the five hour drive to Cape Cod to deliver work to the Salt Meadow Gallery there, and then a second delivery to The Harrison Gallery on Sunday on the way back home. Generally, if it's possible, I take one of the kids with me on my short trips, alternating each time. Thankfully, because this was a lot of driving, it was my quieter daughter's turn to come with. Now of course, I dearly love my youngest, but she NEVER stops talking and I confess to some irritation with that, most especially in the car. So this particular trip was rather quiet and harmonious. We listened to music, worked on some crossword puzzles (she did the reading and writing and um, got most of the answers), and we stopped and did some shopping at the mall in Albany on the way back on Sunday.

Anyway, we got to the gallery in Cape Cod on Saturday afternoon, no thanks to the seemingly incorrect mapquest directions and I spent some time visiting with Glenn, the owner. I had a solo show there last summer (read about it here) and will have another one this July. He has sold A LOT of my work over the last few years, however I have also given him many pieces and so we had finally agreed that I should take some work back this time. Of course this makes sense (I am the one who offered to take some back, conscious of possible storage space issues) and he had 12 paintings ready for me. My practical mind is fine with taking back work from a gallery that shows it, and I generally make the suggestion if it seems that sales have slowed or if it's been awhile since they have received new work. But I admit to still feeling a bit demoralized when a stack of paintings return to my studio.

So I try to look at it like this: it's a good reality check to learn, once again, that not everything I do is so fab that it immediately flies out the gallery door. I think my work really suffers when I fall into thinking how great I am. Not much to strive for when I start doing that, you know? So these reality breaks are good and will help me in the long run I think.

Now if that urge to cut off my ear would just go away. Heh.

PS. I should add here that personally, I do think that most of the returned paintings are pretty dang nice, which only proves how subjective art can be. A piece that I am proud of doesn't always translate to one that touches someone else. Or perhaps for a myriad of reasons and circumstances the painting doesn't find the person for whom it is meant for. These are things to remember too, especially when the ear cutting thing flares up.