Time moves, and then it's either a foot note or red letter.
I spent the week edging two new paintings.
One that will be a full body portrait of my grandfather, and the other, an in-progress painting that is number four-of-six in the Idea series. Number four is coming together nicely.
I began attending wine classes this week. The wine sommelier of Restaurant Kevin Taylor is providing first level wine instruction to any employee of the company, for free. This class would cost me about a thousand bucks if I were to seek this education on my own.
We began by smelling twelve different aromas contained in individual glass vials and recorded our impressions and what we thought each aroma was. I deduced four of them correctly. The aromas included: strawberry, leather, violets / lavender, anise, cherry, cedar, mushroom, smoke, etc.
Our focus will be on Italian wines for the first few weeks. All information will be cursory and will give me basic knowledge. It would take literally years to understand fully the wines from Tuscany alone. Despite the Italian itinerary, we blind tasted seven wines, all from Spain. Notes were written down and then we ranked them, least favorite to favorite.
I'm happy to be taking this course which will last through the rest of the year, convening each Wednesday. The wine sommelier, Kevin Arndt, is a laid back guy, a bit younger than me. He's exceptionally educated in oenology, but without pretense. A few years back, he won first prize in a Halloween costume contest wearing a homemade costume of Boba Fett.
Wine removes the burrs of the day and puts a period on the days work. Evaluating my satisfaction or disappointment in the day's or week's progress through the lens of a red wine gives me strange powers of observation.
Ah, an interruption: The UPS man just arrived. Excellent, our new external hard drive just arrived. This was a practice in patience. About a year and a half ago, I decided that with all of the photos, music, and other digital stuff that we are amassing, I wanted a 1 terabyte drive to ensure that it could all be backed up and leisurely stored, but I wasn't willing to pay more than $200 for it. Patience won and this week I paid $165 for the new 1TB drive. To all who are looking for any computer stuff, check out newegg.com.
Now, what was I saying? Oh yea, strange powers of observation. A glass of Malbec, (spice and earth) or Pinot Noir (of ancient heritage and genetically freaky) or a noble Nebbiolo (rich and chewy) gives me super-insight to the greatness or mediocrity of my work. Usually in the same swallow. It helps me evaluate how behind schedule I am and if I should worry about it or not. I make plans. I change plans. I wonder how I can be more productive. I'm moved to restless and fierce urgency to produce as much as I can. And then to delight, that I control my own clock. "Yes, Sharon, I'll have another glass. Thank you."
Another interruption: Phil Bender just called and left a message. Phil is a Denver artist who is the Grand Senior of Pirate Gallery here in el barrio. Tonight is the Dia de Los Muertos party at Pirate. He's calling to ask if I can help out with set up. Hmm. It's always good to stay in contact with established artists, and the party's usually fun. A parade of the Dead snakes it's way through the neighborhood with candles, drums, and Skeletons. Then everybody goes back to the gallery for art, music, and beer. Great fun. Perhaps I could put in an hour or two. It would be a good way to spend Halloween night. I'm sure Sharon would dig it.
To continue: I've been painting for a decade and I'm grateful that I began working as soon as I did. I have something to show for my sweat. I think the 2009 harvest will be a memorable one. A show feels imminent and I'm growing hungry to initiate gallery contact. Am I ready? Ready as I'll ever be, and from where I stand today, the view is ripe and it's almost happy hour.
And last:
Have a good weekend, and Godspeed, John Glenn,
Dave
Ah, an interruption: The UPS man just arrived. Excellent, our new external hard drive just arrived. This was a practice in patience. About a year and a half ago, I decided that with all of the photos, music, and other digital stuff that we are amassing, I wanted a 1 terabyte drive to ensure that it could all be backed up and leisurely stored, but I wasn't willing to pay more than $200 for it. Patience won and this week I paid $165 for the new 1TB drive. To all who are looking for any computer stuff, check out newegg.com.
Now, what was I saying? Oh yea, strange powers of observation. A glass of Malbec, (spice and earth) or Pinot Noir (of ancient heritage and genetically freaky) or a noble Nebbiolo (rich and chewy) gives me super-insight to the greatness or mediocrity of my work. Usually in the same swallow. It helps me evaluate how behind schedule I am and if I should worry about it or not. I make plans. I change plans. I wonder how I can be more productive. I'm moved to restless and fierce urgency to produce as much as I can. And then to delight, that I control my own clock. "Yes, Sharon, I'll have another glass. Thank you."
Another interruption: Phil Bender just called and left a message. Phil is a Denver artist who is the Grand Senior of Pirate Gallery here in el barrio. Tonight is the Dia de Los Muertos party at Pirate. He's calling to ask if I can help out with set up. Hmm. It's always good to stay in contact with established artists, and the party's usually fun. A parade of the Dead snakes it's way through the neighborhood with candles, drums, and Skeletons. Then everybody goes back to the gallery for art, music, and beer. Great fun. Perhaps I could put in an hour or two. It would be a good way to spend Halloween night. I'm sure Sharon would dig it.
To continue: I've been painting for a decade and I'm grateful that I began working as soon as I did. I have something to show for my sweat. I think the 2009 harvest will be a memorable one. A show feels imminent and I'm growing hungry to initiate gallery contact. Am I ready? Ready as I'll ever be, and from where I stand today, the view is ripe and it's almost happy hour.
And last:
Have a good weekend, and Godspeed, John Glenn,
Dave
