Lately

Here is what I have going in the studio lately. I've never been into blue, but it's cropping up. I think it's all the Swedish movies I've been watching! I've been playing around with painted cardboard collages. I really like the color play, and to re-use all those cardboard boxes that things have been arriving in through the mail feels virtuous.

Dan Dowd

Dan Dowd is a fellow Maine artist living in a house he has painstakingly brought to life over the last 10 years. I went to visit him last week. The drive down to Phippsburg, where he lives, is just the beginning of the pleasure of the experience. The road winds down a neck of land, with peeks of the water through the trees. When you get to Dan's house, the modernity of it is so striking, and a perfect juxtaposition to all the old houses and the little stone schoolhouse you pass on the way there. Then you go into the house (a work of art in itself) and look at all the wonderful art Dan has collected, and of course, his own work. Go to Dan's website here, to see his beautifully made work. The top photo here are all his works. He even made a Koi pond. One thing I greatly admire about Dan is how he champions re-use. I'm not kidding. You should see the pile of gorgeous wool blankets he recovered from his local dump! He's a master of that. Most of his work is from things he has captured there. We plan to make a dump foray together soon. I also admire the way Dan pursues his career. He shows often, and knows everybody in the Maine art world.