It's COLD!!!

It's getting colder in our apartment as autumn blows through. What is annoying is our apartment's one distinct deficiency: electric heat. I've been warned that electric heating bills can top $300. So we've been wearing more clothes. Impressively the thermometer on Meg's alarm clock -an unusual feature to be sure- reads 61 degrees Fahrenheit the 30 degree nights. That's "warm" enough for right now; however, when we should turn the heat on is still uncertain.
Gripping a pencil is uncomfortable in the cold weather. That's not a bad thing. I'm more aware of my hands, more conscious of what I do, more eager to draw. My drawing commission is emerging that much faster as a result. And once that is done I will be onto another commission, one that means more to me.

New paintings

Writer's block

The post line is a bit misleading. I am not a writer, but I am having trouble coming up with a statement describing where I am now with my work. It's for an small exhibition at the place I went to college.
Looking around at my small studio-which is really a converted bedroom in our apartment- might have depressed me a few years ago. However, the reality of what it is to produce art in a city- or an adjacent suburb now- looks exactly like what I have. I am making work and showing at least a few times a year and that makes me happy.
Well, do I go with what I have here or compose a jargon filled account? Why am I even asking this question? I hate that kind of pretentiousness.
This is one of those instances I'm glad nobody reads this thing.

Damn technology

Talking last night to Caleb (Weintraub-guy I know from grad school), he recommended a book called "The Shallows". After having read the first few pages I feel as though I should be wary of what changes any technology, old or new, may have upon me and my ability to think. Is it overreaction? I don't know. But just like many other things in my life, I worry.

Two upcoming shows, I hope

I'm trying to get my work sent out to Denison University for an Alumni show this week. Shipping can be pricey, but I'd like to be in the show. Also hoping to get my work included in a fund raising show for Meredith Winer's Transit residency. Not sure how I might feel if my works sells. It took me a year to complete and I really like the painting. BUT I really like what Meredith is trying to do starting this residency.

Workin'! I am so glad to get back into the studio. Starting to get past my apprehensiveness. What am I so afraid of anyway?

Trying to work

It's been difficult to get in the studio since moving in to the new place. Lots to stuff to do during the day: getting the apartment management company to fix things that should have been in good shape when we moved it, cleaning up, unpacking (still), looking for jobs. I know that sometimes I've used these chores as an excuse for not getting the artwork done. I have been able to do some collage work in the meantime though. I just wish that I could get my stuff together enough to start painting in earnest again and finish the Iggy piece. I've got commissions to do as well. There's no shortage of things to do, just a shortage of energy I suppose.

Storms

It might seem that the strong thunderstorms that are now striking for the second time today have nothing to do with artwork. I'd be inclined to agree. But setting up a studio with lightening strikes and thunderclaps meant keeping on task was difficult.

Moved in (partially)

After two months of searching, calling, waiting, packing, and overall being stressed out, Meg and I are in a new apartment in Evanston. Hopefully I will have soon transferred all of my painting items from my old studio to the one set up in the second bedroom of our new place. It is significantly smaller, but there's no commute and I don't have to pack a lunch.

I like Ben Schonzeit

Hey everyone,
I found this guy's work (a 8x9 foot photorealist picture of crabs to
be accurate) in a cookbook from the Worcester Art Museum of all places.
It might not be your cup of tea; however, I like the mimicry a
photograph seemingly before the subject matter itself.
http://www.benschonzeit.com/

Application & Paperwork

Learning to write in college was a necessary and rewarding process;
however, learning the ins-and-outs of residency and grant applications
has brought me new appreciation for what technical writers do day in
and day out. I suppose IKEA was onto something when it shifted to
picture for its instruction sheets. Still, even that could use some
retooling.

Tom Walther
thomas@tomwalther.com
thomaswalther1@gmail.com

Thoughts for exhibition

I'm looking to submit my work for an exhibition entitled "War and the Body". What follows is a fleshing out (warts and all) of why I think that 3 of my works should be included.
The one seen above on the right called "God would have mercy. Jon Rambo won't." pokes fun at a few things. One is the body of warrior; it is supposed to be idealized. The soldier has flaws as a human, but they are spackled so that the fighting force they represent as an individual does not get muddied. The idealized warrior is nothing new. Achilles comes to mind. But this can be dangerously misleading. Rambo, for instance, is the unbound and idealized soldier from Vietnam. Rambo was vehicle for Cold War propaganda. Rambo 3 presents the Mujaheddin as kinfolk of the revolutionary patriots of the US. Never mind that in 2001 the crows came home to roost.
On the left I have a work that represents the lack of attention by the American people to the plight of the soldier. The space in which the image takes place is in the Metropolitan Museum of Art where Egyptian art is displayed. Is this the only interface that Americans can access the "orient"? It doesn't seem to matter to the visitors. No matter how bad the burnt out humvee is, the human is missing. Because of severity of wounds, an open casket ceremony is not always available to the families of the dead. Here, despite the horror, people forget the soldier (body).

Hopefully I can hone this down to 2 or 3 sentences for my submission.

Stuff happened

Knowing that I am going to make much more frequent posts to my blog, I'm previewing my future inventory. My wife and I went to Italy; many pictures of the country will be forthcoming. And on that note I'm going to share the works that may or may not take inspiration from them.

OK, enough inflated language. I went. I saw. I... damn! Stay tuned. Something will happen.