The Hollywood Invasion

Had someone ask me this week what movie was being filmed in Midway... take a look at the sign from the set being built downstairs included in my post a few days back... The Ghosts of Girlfriends Past starring Matthew McConaughey. I was sure if you couldn't read the sign in the photo you would have at least surmised it with the Breckin Meyer reference.

If anyone isn't familiar with movie making, it is about the craziest thing ever. There are vans dropping people off, people with radios, security, huge lights pointed at the building, tractor trailers, extra air conditioning pumped in, extras milling around the building, green rooms, tables and tables of food. I am pretty sure it is better coordinated than any war effort, including storming the beaches at Normandy. Above, see some shots of the tractor trailers outside Midway and the lights pointed at the building out front.

But no ladies, there have been no McConaughey sightings yet, which means there have also been no shirtless McConaughey sightings. There haven't even been any Breckin Meyer sightings.

Also, see a great Mattie Damon impression of McConaughey. Welcome to Beantown.

Pollock Painting

Found this on YouTube recently. After the last post thought it might be nice to post it here.

New Work Meditation 2: What's Up With the Dots

I was reading a biography on Jackson Pollock a while ago, and it said something to the effect of “when he started to work in circles, that’s when you knew he was going insane.”

In truth, the book was “Jackson Pollock: An American Saga” (by Naifeh & Smith) and the quote comes from page 5 during a scene with artist Tony Smith in it:

“On the floor lay a painting that Jackson had been working on recently, a network of delicate circles painted with a light, tentative brush— unlike anything he had done before. Seeing it, Smith thought of something George Grosz had told him once: ‘When a painter works in circles… he is near madness.” Look at van Gogh, he had said.”

Of course, ever since, I have wanted to work with circles.

As a side note: The bio “An American Saga” is excellent. But to go one better, just the introduction, which is about 8 pages long, is probably some of the best writing, and most insightful work into the character, mystique, trouble and persona of Pollock that has been done.

As a second side note: I share a review with Grosz. A show of his work got praised, mine got butchered. You can probably find it on the net.

Back on track…. dots. I have always believed that the blessing and the curse of Post World War 2 American Art has been the amazing productivity. As a reflection of rapid cultural shifts, and a strong desire to be new and original, vastly different styles, techniques and art forms have exploded into being over the past 60 years.

Abstract Expressionism, Abstract Impressionism, Color-field Painting, Shaped Canvases, Pop, Installations, Photorealism, Minimalism, Earthworks, Conceptual Art, Mixed Media, etc., etc… as the art world has whirled from one approach to the next it has created new styles and wonderful expression, but I often wonder if the final chapter for each has been written, or if enough time has really been spent on each major movement.

You might arguably state (Art Historians love to argue) that Impressionism ran from about 1860 to 1920, Neo-Classicism from 1765 to 1830, the Italian Renaissance from the 1300’s through the 1400’s… contrast this with the 5 or ten years given to Abstract Expressionism and you might start to wonder.

So what better place to start than with circles?

I have used circles, or been interested in using circles, for a long time. One of my paintings from about seven years ago “Kiss” is pictured above and was included in a few shows in Missoula, Montana.

At about the time of “Kiss” I’d become fascinated with Barnett Newman as well. For anyone unfamiliar, here is a blurb from wikipedia:

“Barnett Newman (January 29, 1905 – July 4, 1970) was an American artist. He is seen as one of the major figures in abstract expressionism and one of the foremost of the color field painters.
In the 1940s he first worked in a surrealist mode before developing his mature style. This is characterized by areas of color separated by thin vertical lines, or "zips" as Newman called them. In the first works featuring zips, the color fields are variegated, but later the colors are pure and flat. Newman himself thought that he reached his fully mature style with the Onement series (from 1948). The zips define the spatial structure of the painting, whilst simultaneously dividing and uniting the composition.”

His famous “zip” paintings were interesting to me as I always wondered what was behind these streams of light, or what was “inside” them. As if a door had opened just a crack and I wanted to open it further. Plus, I loved the idea of the story or the message in these paintings, as with his Onement and Stations of the Cross series.

The notion of enlarging and bending Newman’s zips gave rise to paintings of mine like “Juniper,” shown above.

Also above, see Onement 1, 1948. From the Museum of Modern Art website. This is the first example of Newman using the so-called "zip" to define the spatial structure of his paintings.

Combing these 2 ideas (that is reconsidering an artist’s story or work and circles) brought me to Roy Lichtenstein and his dots.

For anyone not familiar with Lichtenstein, here is a blurb from wikipedia:

“Roy Fox Lichtenstein (27 October 1923 – 29 September 1997) was a prominent American pop artist, his work heavily influenced by both popular advertising and the comic book style. He himself described Pop art as, "not 'American' painting but actually industrial painting".

Lichtenstein used oil and Magna paint in his best known works, such as Drowning Girl (1963, Museum of Modern Art, New York). Also featuring thick outlines, bold colors and Benday Dots to represent certain colors, as if created by photographic reproduction.

Benday dots were considered the hallmark of American artist Roy Lichtenstein, who enlarged and exaggerated them in many of his paintings and sculptures especially his interpretations of contemporary comicbook and magazine images. Other illustrators and graphic designers have used enlarged Benday dots in print media for a similar effect.”

Rather than use the “dots” to make up the painting, I wondered what it might be like to see inside these dots (as if opening Newman’s zips a bit wider) and actually having the dots hold an image as much as the larger piece did. Of course, this fit the idea of pulling out the collage elements that had been making up the subjects of my paintings, and putting them on the surface rather than behind the paint (something that likely connects to some ideas I have about Monet and Waterlilies but more on that later maybe).

What else fit the Lichtenstein/circles/dots connection? There was something about taking mass media (internet/catalogs etc.) and reinventing it into art that fit a connection with Lichtenstein and comic books. Like… are catalogs and internet pornography the new comic books? When I think of kids coming home after school with the internet age I really wonder about the second.

Also, when I was working on Summer Clearance, which to be totally contrarian has no collage elements whatsoever, there was a certain light blue/yellow combination that felt like Lichtenstein or comic books (like a superhero uniform). I kept thinking and thinking of him.

I suppose for a poet and a painter, a lover of text and words and images, Lichtenstein is also a magnetic force. Consider the fortune cookies paper slips found in “Choppy-Chop” an homage to him as well. As well as Frank O’Hara and his “Lines for Fortune Cookies,” which is a great poem.

On top of all that, I love comic books. Some of the X-Men comic covers I have are my favorite works of art. And Batman’s “Arkham Asylum” or the Wolverine/Havok “Meltdown” series… amazing.

There is more here on the dots too, I know. More ideas of what looking at print under a microscope reveals, or ideas of the particles that make up everything; visual patterns as melodies, or looking past something floating on the surface to something else… or fragmented reality.

But some combination of Pollock’s insanity, Newman’s beckoning zip lines, Lichtenstein’s dots, and a desire to shift content between the surface, foreground, mid-ground, and background of the painting, accounts for some portion of these new works.

Above, see Lichtenstein’s “M-maybe” from 1965 as found on http://www.leninimports.com/

And of course, Dots, from www.oldtimecandy.com/dots.htm

New Work Meditation 1: The Deal With the Women

One of the questions I have received most often lately is “what’s the deal with all the women?”

Lots of times it’s tinged with this weird air. This idea as if my art is smut, or I am some sort of smut peddler painting lurid scenes of spicy women. In fact, the organizers of the Moakley show wouldn’t let me hang a piece— Summer Clearance— as they thought it would be too racy. They even thought that Target/Target might get some requests to be taken down. This was a little strange to me as the women are fully clothed in Target/Target and in Summer Clearance they were pretty flatly rendered and clothed in swimwear.

It ended up OK though, as the wall space wasn’t enough for Summer Clearance too.

But my first reaction to some of this has been the most egotistical maybe. That, as a member of the arts community, and fairly well trained and educated (likely trained and educated beyond my ability and intelligence) there might be a chance that my goal in all this is actually to produce art. Maybe not good art, or art that you like, but that I am at least trying to aim for art… something with some depth and meaning.

And some of the meaning in all this is how ironic it is that the everyday images we see (catalogs, baseball cards, magazines, billboards, internet content) might mean something a lot different if we stopped and looked at them for a while.

For example, a catalog that goes out to millions of homes in inoffensive as it sits on your coffee table, but when these same images are made flat, are distilled to line and color, and made into a still image people ask me if I am a smut peddler. Maybe I should start to sign my paintings “Larry Flynt.”

So, at the risk of sounding like an artist (which is a serious risk), if the content or ideas depicted in these “women” paintings is emotionally charged, strangely sexual, offensive or confusing, I might encourage you to consider the source of these works… or to take a look next time you walk past the newsstand or open up your mailbox. If catalogs are OK for mass consumption shouldn’t paintings be too?

What else about the women? The idea of media image/self-image, what is beautiful and what is material seemed easier to ask by using input from women featured in mass media. We are still a culture arguing over beauty, especially at women. Screaming an argument at them from every media outlet. To be real is to be vulnerable. To be fake is to be powerful and desired.

Although, the baseball card paintings have an interesting story too about masculinity and sex.

I am also a big believer in the larger conversation in art. Any art. And using women as subjects in paintings calls to the tradition of women in portraiture. The question that occurs most often in creating the work for me is “what is the current outlet of women’s portraiture?” If this outlet is no longer created in or with painting and art, where is it? Is Victoria’s Secret Summer Sale catalog our new stand-in for the Mona Lisa? Titian’s Eurpoa is now oddly satisfied by glamour photo shoots of Lindsay Lohan or something found in internet pornography? What are the true renderings of feminine beauty (or masculine beauty.. is it a Calvin Klein ad?) in our culture and what do they say about art, audience, and ourselves?

What about Matisse, Gauguin, Boticelli, Ingres, Delacriox, Goya, Sargent, everyone? Can women in bikinis in a painting be that stunning or sexually charged when we see sex on the cover of every magazine, especially in comparison to the whole of art history before cameras were even invented?

Plus, with sex everywhere, if I was aiming for seduction or sex wouldn’t I be a little more saucy about it? I mean, these paintings of mine don’t even compete with an Herbal Essences commercial, a Yoga instructional video, or a good advertisement for toothpaste.

Above, see some other steamy paintings over the years, top to bottom:

1. Jean Honore Fragonard - The Swing - c.1768-69 from arthistortarchive.com
2. Titian, Europa, about 1575–80 from www.gardnermuseum.org
3. Sandro Botticelli, The Birth of Venus c. 1485-86

And 4., my new namesake from crimelibrary.com

That might be more of a rant than a blog entry, but it was fun. And no, I have no idea what toothpaste ad I might be talking about. It just sounded right.

Meditations on New Work & The Truth About Poetry

MEDITATIONS

Now that the new show is up it has given me a chance to reflect a little on my new work. Also, some of the questions/comments/response of visitors to the show, the site, and the blog over the past few weeks have generated some thoughts on this new work. Over the next few posts I will talk a bit about the women, the dots, and might even get to… wait for it… water lilies.

POETRY

Above, see the poetry broadside for "Chicago" as seen at the Reference Point show.

Have had some questions lately about poetry and poems and where the ideas from poems come from. Thought it might be interesting to talk about this a bit. Mainly, “so the stuff in your poems, are these things from your life?” (or some variation on that theme).

Here goes:

It is hard to explain. People generally think of poetry as "true." Like if you say in a poem "I went to the movies" it really means that I, Kurt Eidsvig, went to the movies. Then again, people do the same with fiction. They always think the writer and the main character are the same person.

When I was in Grad School I decided to never let the truth get in the way of a good poem. So, while they all start with an idea that is mine, and some contain things I have seen, thoughts I have had, people I know, etc... I will bold-faced lie or make something up in a poem if it will make it better. It sounds a lot cooler to say something like "the sky was shattering like sea glass sorting itself out between the sand and the surf," than it does to say "the sky was blue. There was no sea glass that day." Or maybe not. I kind of like the sadness in not finding sea glass at the end there.

Plus, poems are a lot like songs, only with the music and the words all mixed up into one. So while a songwriter might make something up to make a rhyme, a poet might make something up for the sound of the "s" or to have one beat at the end of a line, or whatever. All that said, poems are really a neat art form because they are so intimate. There is something about reading a poem that seems like you are peering into someone's mind, or spying on them, or know their innermost thoughts or feelings.

And all that said, it is true, Even if I "lie" in a poem it is to more truly capture a feeling or get someone to feel or think something, maybe. And finally, yes. a lot of my poetry is "me" but some of it isn’t.

And as for how I chose what poems to make into “broadsides.” It seemed dependent on poems that were heavily influenced by place or heavily referenced place (that is, a true geographic location on a map, so I could pull the map, collage it, and lay the poems down). Also, they had to be poems that had lengths suitable for the format (I had decided that using excerpts wouldn’t be as string). For this, Blue, Chicago and Missoula seemed just right. This added to the fact that they are definitely some of my stronger work and seemed worthy of this visual art/poetry status.

For more on poems and poetry I would check out the life of Jack Spicer, William Carlos Williams' poem "This is Just to Say," the fire escape Frank O'Hara sat on, and the collected works of Biggie Smalls.

Making Movies in Midway

So, it is a little cool when you realize that someone is creating a movie set in your own building. Above, see some pics from the movie set being built here in Midway Studios. I did an IMDB search on the movie… who knows, maybe I will meet Breckin Meyer?

Between that and acclaimed movie actor Dan Demiller Jr. setting up residence in Midway the building has Tinseltown written all over it.

No, not literally.

This only furthers my claim that Boston is reemerging as the hub of the universe. World Series trophies, movie stars, superbowl dynasties, art, culture… what more proof do you need?

70 Degrees in Fort Point

Above, see a picture from last Thursday of the Fort Point Channel. 71 degrees. Is it possible Fort Point is the best place in the world to live? OK, tied for first with Key West, Cape Cod, Montana, and South Lake Tahoe.

Hope everyone is enjoying the spring.

Images from Reference Point

Above, see a slide show of some images from Reference Point. This is likely the end of the photos until the show is over, as it is difficult to get cameras in the Courthouse. But, I wanted to give a few detailed shots of the paintings, without ruining the show for those who are on their way to see it.

We are in the process of scheduling a reception for the show, and I should know more in the next few weeks. I will keep everyone posted as I know more.

Included in the slideshow are some shots of the poetry broadsides that I created for this show. “Broadsides” is probably the wrong description— but they are combinations of some of my poems and collage that seemed to work well together.

Each is 6” x 12” and uses maps and a version of one of my poems. “Chicago,” “Blue,” and “Missoula,” are included in the show and turned out pretty amazing.

And to all those who have visited the show already and have emailed with such great response, thank you so much. I am glad so many people have enjoyed it a week in. The response has been stellar.

Catch-up On Eidsvig Randomness

So, yes, the blog hiatus is over, as evidenced by the pictures of Reference Point, now showing at the Moakley Federal Courthouse… as well as photos of those paintings in progress… with more shots of the Reference Point show to come later today.

But, yes, I recognize that this doesn’t settle up completely on an overdue account. Where are the irreverent comments on day-to-day studio living? Where are the random observations on popular culture and art? What have you been doing for the past 2 months besides painting?

So, here is a little catch-up on life behind the scenes:

MIRRORS AND MODEL CONSUMER

In prepping for some of the pieces for the Reference Point show I was scouring magazines for inspiration. For “Choppy Chop” I was looking for some ideas about a couple, at dinner, with some glamour or atmosphere obvious in the picture. I scoured bookstores, pouring through every magazine.

Here is the weird part: all the food magazines have no people in them, only images of food neatly presented on plates. The kitchen and remodeling magazines and the restaurant/travel magazines are the same. You see pretty tables set up, or the expanse of an empty restaurant… but no actual people. And I am talking about literally hundreds of magazines I went through.

French magazines, British magazines, Bon Appetite, Italian Cuisine, etc., etc. Image after image after image of beautiful food with no one to eat it. After a while it got sad, or spooky. Like a ghost town of gourmet food and fine dining with me the only voyeur into this world as I flipped through the pages of magazines.

And the women’s magazines and fashion magazines were no better. Being early spring all the double-edition extra-big fashion issues are out and as I flipped through Vogue, Elle, and what not (yes, the notion of being seen flipping furiously through page after page, issue after issue of women’s fashion magazines did make me feel like I was doing something wrong or was some sort of deviant) the exact opposite occurred from the food and design magazines.

Now it was page after page of people… many at clubs or restaurants, standing near tables… without a morsel of food in sight. It made a little more sense to me than the food magazines. With the food or kitchens you would think conveying the message “look people are happy eating this,” or look, people are happy sitting and laughing in this remodeled kitchen,” would be good. But with the fashion magazines I was sure the editors were saying “don’t give them any ideas about eating.” Or, “great photos Jim, but take out the plate of oranges. Our styles aren’t meant to mix with people who eat.”

So, plates of food with no one to eat it, or collections of people who are trapped in some dream world where they are being starved to death in punishment for their beauty.

Here is a line of poetry for you: "Plates of people with no one to eat, or collections of food trapped in a dream world." Ahh, the absolute poetry of dyslexia.

Anyhow, lots of internet searching later and I found some inspiration... which is a whole other story. To all you parents out there, be very wary. The most innocent words like “couple, Japanese restaurant,” can produce some racy results on a Google image search.

All of this is just a long segue into talk of the Model Consumer series I started this past summer. See the following posts for some info:

http://617midway.blogspot.com/2007/11/gulu-gulu-meet-artists-night.html

http://617midway.blogspot.com/2007/08/in-progress-model-consumer-and-matisse.html

What was interesting in looking through all these magazines is how often the device of a model taking a photo of themselves is used in the media all of a sudden. Take a look at the 2008 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue for example, or just walk through a magazine aisle and you are likely to see a take-off on this idea used as a cover, or for a major section of the magazine. And no, I am not suggesting I had this idea first or some crazy thing like that— it is just interesting how these ideas seem to bubble up at the same time. Here you are seeing mass culture (i.e. people taking photos of themselves for internet sites, or with their phone cams) influencing professional photography and art, rather than vice versa. And it is pretty great. More and more of this is on its way.

LITERARY GENIUS AND ALEXIE

One other thing I have been doing over the past few months, besides creepily scanning women’s fashion magazines in bookstores, is reading, reading, reading. Had to catch up on my Christmas reading— Don Rickles autobiography, Picasso, Abraham Lincoln (“Team of Rivals,” which was really good)— and also on some reading I have been needing to get to for a while.

I posted on Sherman Alexie’s book “Flight” after I attended a reading of his last year.

See:

http://617midway.blogspot.com/2007/06/sherman-alexie-coke-commercials-and.html

and I finally got to the book this past month. Now, I was thinking I was semi-genius (again) when I caught some connection between “Flight” and Vonnegut’s “Slaughterhouse-Five.” I was expecting Cal Berkeley’s Literature Department to compete with Harvard’s in an attempt to be the first to give me an honorary PhD. So, it was humbling when I opened up the first page of Alexie’s book and saw:

“’Po-tee-weet?’ Kurt Vonnegut, Slaughterhouse-Five.”

Not only did someone else notice this connection, Alexie himself acknowledged it in his epigraph. And clearly intended it. I guess it is back to the drawing board for genius status in Literary Criticism.

PICASSO

Put “The Mystery of Picasso” on your Netflix queue. I have been looking for this movie for forever... I saw some bits of it in a class at MassArt on my magical mystery tour of colleges years ago and every time I tried to buy it it was in the hundreds of dollars for a dvd or vhs. And needless to say it wasn’t at Hub Video here in Southie.

But you can get it on DVD through Netflix and it is extraordinary to actually watch Picasso paint. Some isn’t so exciting, sure, but to watch his mind work as he paints an image and changes it from a fish to a rooster and back again… or to see a bull appear through black lines and red, throwing a matador in the air… is to see greatness navigating lines on a page. Check it out

COUNTING CROWS

And what would a return to blog babbling be without some mention of music and music videos?

I was downtown last week (2 weeks ago?) and walked into Newbury comics, remembering the new Counting Crows album was due out. I finally, embarrassed, asked the guy at the counter.

“Yeah, it came out today. We sold out in 2 hours.”

2 hours? The Counting Crows? And I was embarrassed that I was going to buy their new album? Are they a mega group? Is my embarrassment the vestiges of a Naughty by Nature, NWA, Public Enemy fan who scanned by Mr. Jones on VH1 (back when music channels showed music)? I have no idea. But I got my hands on the album. It is pretty good. Above, see a live video for “Los Angeles.” Sure, it’s no “Anna Begins,” but what is?

And that, my friends, is your catch-up on Eidsvig randomness….

Reference Point: Artist's Statement

Above, see a shot from the show at the Moakley Federal Courthouse running now through the end of June. Below, find my Artist's Statement from this show.

REFERENCE POINT

Created over the past two years, these works search the highly impersonal world of the mass media for embedded meaning, intimate response, and collective biography. Through traditional painting and collage techniques, each piece uses layering-- layered meaning, layered content, or both-- to reconsider ordinary objects from pop culture.

Ranging from restaurant menus to Driver's Licenses; comic book pictures to baseball cards; automobile repair manuals to clothing catalogs, these pieces use images we normally take for granted, placed in a different context with new perspective

What is more intimate or revealing than showing a friend your Driver's License photo? Or more emotionally charged than the memory of an airplane ride?

Reference Point explores the intersection of the personal and the impersonal, and invites each person to consider the weight of emotions an everyday image may hold.

New Yorker this Week – April 7

Just a brief note not to miss this week’s New Yorker which has an article on Frank O’Hara. The picture above is from their website NewYorker.com

And this only days after I had finally titled “Meditations on a Balcony,” one of my new pieces; the title being very influenced by O’Hara’s famous book “Meditations in an Emergency” (which was almost the title of the painting as well). Although “Meditations in Black and White,” or the always favorite “The Marriage of Reason and Squalor” were in the running as well.

Below, see the poem “To The Harbormaster,” from O’Hara’s book “Meditations in an Emergency.”

TO THE HARBORMASTER

I wanted to be sure to reach you;

though my ship was on the way it got caught

in some moorings. I am always tying up

and then deciding to depart. In storms and

at sunset, with the metallic coils of the tide

around my fathomless arms, I am unable

to understand the forms of my vanity

or I am hard alee with my Polish rudder

in my hand and the sun sinking. To

you I offer my hull and the tattered cordage

of my will. The terrible channels where

the wind drives me against the brown lips

of the reeds are not all behind me. Yet

I trust the sanity of my vessel; and

if it sinks it may well be in answer

to the reasoning of the eternal voices,

the waves which have kept me from reaching you.

What’s the Reference Point?

So, a few questions on the title for the show of my new work at the Moakley Federal Courthouse.

Basically, why “Reference Point” as a title?

Besides the obvious, referring to cultural references through collage, and biographical references in relationship to these; or using “points” or “dots” as collage features, the title seemed to work perfectly in ways beyond that.

Ideas for "Point" Like: Direct, Indicate, Meaning, Purpose, Dot, etc.... And for "Reference" like: Refer To, Draw From, Measure, Use, etc.

Anyhow, I looked them up. It may not help, but it is pretty interesting. There are definitely ties to each piece in the show, and the theme of the collective.

Here are some sample definitions of “reference” from Dictionary.com:

1. an act or instance of referring.
2. a mention; allusion.
3. something for which a name or designation stands; denotation.
4. a direction in a book or writing to some other book, passage, etc.
5. a book, passage, etc., to which one is directed.
6. material contained in a footnote or bibliography, or referred to by a reference mark.
7. use or recourse for purposes of information: a library for public reference.
8. a person to whom one refers for testimony as to one's character, abilities, etc.
9. a statement, usually written, as to a person's character, abilities, etc.
10. relation, regard, or respect: all persons, without reference to age.
–verb (used with object)

11. to furnish (a book, dissertation, etc.) with references: Each new volume is thoroughly referenced.
12. to arrange (notes, data, etc.) for easy reference: Statistical data is referenced in the glossary.
13. to refer to: to reference a file.

And here are some sample definitions of “point” from Dictionary.com:

verb
1. indicate a place, direction, person, or thing; either spatially or figuratively; "I showed the customer the glove section"; "He pointed to the empty parking space"; "he indicated his opponents" [syn: indicate]
2. be oriented; "The weather vane points North"; "the dancers toes pointed outward" [syn: orient]
3. direct into a position for use; "point a gun"; "He charged his weapon at me" [syn: charge]
4. direct the course; determine the direction of travelling
5. be a signal for or a symptom of; "These symptoms indicate a serious illness"; "Her behavior points to a severe neurosis"; "The economic indicators signal that the euro is undervalued" [syn: bespeak]
6. mark with diacritics; "point the letter"
7. mark (a psalm text) to indicate the points at which the music changes
8. be positionable in a specified manner; "The gun points with ease"
9. intend (something) to move towards a certain goal; "He aimed his fists towards his opponent's face"; "criticism directed at her superior"; "direct your anger towards others, not towards yourself" [syn: target]
10. indicate the presence of (game) by standing and pointing with the muzzle; "the dog pointed the dead duck"
11. give a point to; "The candles are tapered" [syn: sharpen]
12. repair the joints of bricks; "point a chimney"

Noun:
1. A sharp or tapered end: the point of a knife; the point of the antenna.
2. An object having a sharp or tapered end: a stone projectile point.
3. A tapering extension of land projecting into water; a peninsula, cape, or promontory.
4. A mark formed by or as if by a sharp end.
5. A mark or dot used in printing or writing for punctuation, especially a period.
6. A decimal point.
7. One of the protruding marks used in certain methods of writing and printing for the blind.
8. Mathematics
a. A dimensionless geometric object having no properties except location.
b. An element in a geometrically described set.
c. A place or locality considered with regard to its position: connections to Chicago and points west.
d. A narrowly particularized and localized position or place; a spot: The troops halted at a point roughly 1,000 yards from the river.
e. Any of the 32 equal divisions marked at the circumference of a mariner's compass card that indicate direction.
f. A distinct condition or degree: finally reached the point of exhaustion.
g. The interval of time immediately before a given occurrence; the verge: on the point of resignation; at the point of death.
h. The act or an instance of pointing.
i. The stiff and attentive stance taken by a hunting dog.
j. A reconnaissance or patrol unit that moves ahead of an advance party or guard, or that follows a rear guard.
k. The position occupied by such a unit or guard: A team of Rangers were walking point at the outset of the operation.

point·ed, point·ing, points v. tr.
1. To direct or aim: point a weapon. See Synonyms at aim.
2. To bring (something) to notice: pointed out an error in their reasoning.
3. To indicate the position or direction of: pointed out the oldest buildings on the skyline.
4. To sharpen (a pencil, for example); provide with a point.
5. To separate with decimal points: pointing off the hundredths place in a column of figures.
6. To mark (text) with points; punctuate.
7. Linguistics To mark (a consonant) with a vowel point.
8. To give emphasis to; stress: comments that simply point up flawed reasoning.
9. To indicate the presence and position of (game) by standing immobile and directing the muzzle toward it. Used of a hunting dog.
10. To fill and finish the joints of (masonry) with cement or mortar.

v. intr.
1. To direct attention or indicate position with or as if with the finger.
2. To turn the mind or thought in a particular direction or to a particular conclusion: All indications point to an early spring.
3. To be turned or faced in a given direction; aim.
4. To indicate the presence and position of game. Used of a hunting dog.
5. Nautical To sail close to the wind.

New Work in Progress

So, the blog hiatus is over and the new show is on display at the Moakley Federal Courthouse in Boston. To catch up, please see some photos above of recent work in progress: "Flight Path," "Meditations from a Balcony," "Choppy Chop," and "Self-Portrait with Dodge Caravan."

"Flight," "Choppy," and "Self-Portrait," are each 4 feet by 6 feet (48" x 72") and "Meditations" is 36" by 48"

Each is acrylic with collage, and each is included in the new show titled "Reference Point" at the Moakley Federal Courthouse in Boston which runs through June of 2008.

Hope you enjoy the new work.