Never Worked A Day In His Life

Skywater for Leonardo 5 and 6 by Peter Monacelli 2017
Skywater for Leonardo 5 and 6 by Peter Monacelli 2017

We asked Pete if he could recommend someone to take an old metal frame, single pane window out of our basement and replace it with some thermal glass. He recommended himself and me (as a helper). He’s done this before so I should have seen it coming. He has been doing construction, remodeling mostly, for his whole life and he claims to “have never worked a day in his life.” He loves the work and jumped at the chance to hang out. Pete plays drums with the Debbie Kendrick Project, our favorite band, and he is also one of our favorite artists so it was a joy working with him for the last two days.

He brought a couple of books over for us to look at. They were individual sheets in plastic sleeves, collages pairing copies of work by Renaissance artists paired with a modern artist. Chillida was in there, our new favorite Spanish artist. And to complete each panel, he painted and drew over, under and around the collage, all part of an ongoing series entitled, “Looking for Home.” The second day he brought over an old music book of American Songs. He’s working his way through this book painting over most of the pages with Casein paint, an old, milk-based medium. The pages are beautiful beyond belief.

1 Comment

One Reply to “Never Worked A Day In His Life”

  1. I guess I question the definition of ‘work’. Pete is one of the most productive artists I know.

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