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You Are Invited

Detail of postcard for upcoming show of recent Paul Dodd paintings
Detail of postcard for upcoming show of recent Paul Dodd paintings

I numbered the backs of my paintings today so I can keep track of them. I plan to put half of this last batch in to a show at the Little Theater Cafe that opens next Wednesday, January 14th at 7pm and the other half in a show at the Printing and Book Arts Center that will open on February 6th.

The faces are all from recent Crimestoppers pages in the Democrat & Chronicle. I sent an invite to the Monroe County Sheriff and whoever it is that answers the mail at info@roccrimestoppers.com. I hope you can stop by for the opening party. You can preview the paintings here.

LOCAL CRIME FACES – RECENT PAINTINGS BY PAUL DODD
Show Is Split Between Two Locations

01.10.09 – 02.07.09 Little Theater Cafe
240 East Avenue Rochester NY
Opening Reception on Wednesday 01.14.09 7pm to 9:30pm
Margaret Explosion will play at 8pm

02.06.09 – 03.04.09 Printing and Book Arts Center
713 Monroe Avenue Rochester, NY
Opening Reception on Friday 02.06.09 7pm – 9pm
DJ Sam Patch will provide the music

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For Alice

Philip Guston painting entitled "Reverse" at the Memorial Art Gallery in Rochester, NY
Philip Guston painting entitled “Reverse” at the Memorial Art Gallery in Rochester, NY

I’m reading a book by Musa Meyer, Philip Guston’s daughter, called “Night Studio”. Wow. There’s a good chunk of therapy in there. It is impossible to be a great artist and a good father. Philip Guston is no saint unless you redefine “saint”. And I do. Saints, to me, are heroes. They are not all good and that makes them more godlike. Philip Guston is the patron saint of existentialists.

His late paintings are his best. They blow me away. What more could you ask for in a painting? They are meaty as hell, ugly and beautiful at the same time. And heroic. The MAG in Rochester has one of the late paintings called “Reverse”. It’s a painting of the back of a stretched canvas leaning against a wall. There is an incredible sense of form like R. Crumb. Probably a white wall but not in Guston’s hands. This is a whole environment. There’s a bare bulb from his closet childhood and a chain swinging like the light has just been turned on. The confrontation has begun.

This is my favorite painting in the Memorial Art Gallery’s collection and it manages to get better each time I see it. The MAG has put it in the best spot in the whole place. Its almost has its own room. And there is even a bench across from it, not some dumb piece of art but a bench you can sit on. Look for this painting.

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Give It Up For The Little Guy

Russian Icons from the show at Memorial Art Gallery in Rochester NY
Russian Icons from the show at Memorial Art Gallery in Rochester NY

We finally made it over to the Russian Icon show at the Memorial Art Gallery in Rochester, NY. We intended to go with Peggi’s mom but she hasn’t been getting around very well. Yesterday was the last day of the show and I was glad to see that it was really crowded.

I loved this piece, entitled “Archangel Deisis with Christ Emmanuel”, from about 1650-1700. It looks downright contemporary or at least from this century’s “seventies”. The youthful Christ in the center looks cocky and mischievous, his head full of big ideas. And the former top dogs, Archangels Michael and Gabriel, respectfully give it up with a dose of healthy suspicion.

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Winter Vacation

Mike Allen at the Mez in Rochester, New York
Mike Allen at the Mez in Rochester, New York

You know how when you’re on vacation somewhere and there is a band playing and they aren’t anybody famous or anything but they sound so damn good that you really dig the music even if it’s Neil Diamond or Van Morrison? The songs are all covers but they are chosen so tastefully from the world’s giant fake book that you get to just sit back and enjoy the music. Mike Allen at the Mez last night went south of the border and down to Brazil even. He channeled Ray Charles and Ertha Kitt. He and his four octave keyboard are a one man band with really cool arrangements. I felt like we were on vacation.

Peggi and I were talking to Mike after the show and he told us he has a cd of his band playing “The Dictionary” teen center in Webster in 1965. I went to high school with Mike Allen and he was in a working band back then. I’m dying to hear this.

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Cost Cutting Issue

Peggi made soup for dinner with the leftover vegetables that we had cut up for our New Year’s party and then we went right back to work. It looked like it was going to be a pretty quiet Friday night until Rick Simpson called. He wondered if we wanted to watch “Tropic Thunder” with him and Monica at about eight. When we arrived across the street  they were both in the basement playing pool and they challenged Peggi and me to a game of 8-Ball. We took turns choosing records for the turntable and went from Leonard Cohen to the Minutemen to Patsy Cline while they won two out of three games.

We were getting pretty silly by the time the movie started so the fake coming attractions really threw me. Ben Stiller’s idea of the actors not knowing if they were acting or really involved in a war was a good one but they could have saved a ton of money on actor’s fees and skipped the damn special effects altogether. They didn’t need Jack Black to play a Jack Black-like character or Nick Nolte to play a Nick Nolte-like character or Tom Cruise to get so made up it didn’t even have to be his expensive self on the set in the first place. Most of the characters were just straight men for the sensational Michael Downey Jr.

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I Heart Scout

Scout in To Kill A Mockingbird
Scout in To Kill A Mockingbird

We stayed up past four on New Years Eve and were pretty spaced out for New Year’s Day so we sat around most of the day. We caught the dramatic scene in “To Kill A Mocking Bird” where Atticus shoots the rabid dog and I remembered that I had a huge crush on the tomboy, Scout, when I first saw this movie. She was played by Mary Badham and she lost the supporting actress Oscar to Patty Duke to Patty Duke (The Miracle Worker) that year (1962).

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Over The Top

Fox News women
Fox News women

We don’t have cable tv but my mother-in-law does and she likes Fox News. So it is pretty jarring walking in on programming like this. Sometimes I forget that the world has gone over the top.

We previewed the dinner menu on the flyer by the tv and I set my sites on the “Chicken Parm”. We headed down the halls to the dining room and walked slowly by the residents art that hangs outside the dining room. Peggi’s mom sked what I thought of this painting of asparagus by E. T. Zogby and I said, “I love it”. Peggi’s mom laughed and said , “I figured you would like this”.

Asparagus painting by E. T. Zogby
Asparagus painting by E. T. Zogby

Peggi’s mom likes art and used to volunteer at the Detroit Institute of the Arts but she is always mystified by modern art and used to try to get me to explain why I like it. The best I could do was say, “It’s fun to look at”. She wrestled with the whole concept whenever we went to an art gallery and usually left frustrated. So I thought it was pretty cute that she knew I would like this painting and she didn’t seem bothered by it anymore. I feel like we are getting somewhere.

Suzanne, the dining room manager, stopped by to say hi and we started chatting. We said something about playing and she flashed on our old band, the Scorgie’s days, and realized why she always thought we looked so familiar. She was friends with Andrea Kohler and eventually married Jeff, the bass player in the Cliches. We always thought she looked pretty familiar too. It’s nice to know I have a connection to get my art work on the walls when I move out here in my senior years.

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Happy New Year Mom!

Satellite dish in a tree in our yard
Satellite dish in a tree in our yard

My mom gave Peggi and me shirts for Christmas. Peggi’s is a fitted orange corduroy one and she has worn it almost every day since. I thanked my mother for mine when I opened it and she said, “I thought it would look good when you’re playing your drums.” So I’m planning to wear it tonight when Margaret Explosion plays the Little Theater Cafe. “My mom has good taste.

I was wiring the backs of my recent paintings in preparation for an upcoming show and I can’t help but review them each time I look at them. Some needed more work so I was running up and down the basement stairs with paintings in my hand and I missed the last step and twisted my ankle. It’s kind of blue on one side.

I should be able to play drums but I might be able to dance when a few friends stop by after the gig to ring in the new year. So I downloaded a free app for our iPod Touch called. “Remote”. I can control iTunes, running on a desktop and wired to the stereo, remotely from any where in the house. I’m thinking about the couch. Now I’m looking for an iPod Touch app that will bring free movies in through the satellite dish that came with our house.

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Rubber Seals?

Maytag man lit up in Home Depot
Maytag man lit up in Home Depot


The Maytag dude was all lit up in the appliances section.

For months I had been compiling a list in my pocket notebook of things we needed at Home Depot. So when I finally got there I had some serious shopping to do. I broke our old push broom so I started at the far end of the store near the garden section. I bought a twenty five dollar yellow shop broom that had angle braces suportting the handle down near the broom. PushBroom 2.0.

We needed some some 100 watt bulbs and I bought the Florescents with the mercury in them but I keep hoping they will come up with a “warm” bulb. Between “Soft, Bright and Daylight”, I settled for “Soft.” I tried some “Daylight” a while back and it wasn’t what I pictured. I bought some wire for the back of the paintings that I’m getting ready for a show and some plastic to cover a window in our basement. I only wanted to buy one ceiling tile but I had to buy a whole box and the last thing on my list was “rubber seals”. Rubber seals for what. I couldn’t imagine. Maybe it was the leaky shower that I’ve learned to ignore.

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Zabadak

Big fallen tree in the woods by our house
Big fallen tree in the woods by our house

Rick Simpson came to our door to tell us that a big tree had fallen across our our path in the woods behind his house. We had to run right down there to check it out. You can only get a sense of how big this tree is by clicking the photo and spotting Peggi in the lower right hand corner. We had sixty mile an hour winds yesterday and there must have been some sort of micro burst in this one spot because four trees came down in a row.

We got a panicked call from Kevin Patrick on Christmas day about the audio player misbehaving on his blog. I had recommended the One Pixel Out player but it wasn’t set up right so he gave us access and we duked it out. I’m so glad we were able to help because I love this site and I love “Zabadak” by Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick & Tich. We didn’t hear this tree fall in the woods but I’m quite sure it went “Zabadak”.

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I Want Wii Pants

Playing Nintendo Wii Baseball in my nephew's basement
Playing Nintendo Wii Baseball in my nephew’s basement

The last of the family holiday gatherings was at my sister’s for pizza. I spent some time in the basement with our nieces and nephews and their pet rabbit. I tried my hand at Nintendo’s Wii Baseball and managed to foul one off but I struck out pretty quickly. The ball players are all missing limbs for some reason. The hitters have no arms and the fielders don’t have any legs. I’m guessing this player is a woman. I love her pants.

I showed our nephews our new iPod Touch and they took me to the App Store where I took their reccomendations for free software like Google Earth, Pandora, UrbanSpoon and Flixter. I downloaded two drum machine programs that sound great through the stereo. I might try playing it with Margaret Explosion on New Year’s Eve. My nephews kept trying to sell me on games so I installed Cube Runner. I’m not very good at that either.

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Getting In Sync

Irondequoit Mall, day after Christmas
Irondequoit Mall, day after Christmas

I have been too busy over the holidays to paint or even check in here. Been hanging with our nephew mostly. Peggi and I found an iPod Touch under the tree and our nephew, coincidentally, just posted his recommended apps for the new device on his site. His laptop is crazy glued to his fingers and he hunches over it, hiding his activities under a mop of hair.

It took us three NetFlix sessions to watch a sixty minute documentary called,”Directors: Robert Altman”. Altman reminded us of Martin’s dad, Kenneth Edic. Altman described how he wanted his movies to be adventures. And it was important to him that the actors that he chose be open to an adventure as well. This is what my painting teacher (Fred Lipp) says all the time. “Painting is an adventure. It’s not the execution of a plan.”

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Pa Ra Pa Pa Pum

Dead Snowmen in our front yard
Dead Snowmen in our front yard

Our snowmen gave up the ghost on Christmas day. I don’t blame them. I went to Sears yesterday looking for a teapot for Peggi’s mom (she melted the last one) and I was right in the thick of it, pawing through merchandise with all the other desperate souls. I felt patriotic shopping but not very religious. Maybe if I bought all that “End of Days” nonsense I would feel more religious.

Peggi’s mom walks so slowly these days, I carry my laptop and type as we go. We’re off to Christmas dinner (for 27) at my parents. The madder the better.

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Bah Humbug

Snowmen with berets in our front yard
Snowmen with berets in our front yard

These guys did an “artiste” thing on us overnight and donned their berets. I imagine them talking about how this whole Christmas thing has gotten in the way of their quality time.

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Exception

Snowmen with faces in front yard
Snowmen with faces in front yard

The snowmen in our front yard have taken on real personalities with the new snow. I’m seeing Winston Churchill on the right.

I paid extra to have the hard drive that I ordered for my father delivered in two days. That should have been Friday. Tracking info showed it out for delivery but later in the day the page show an “Exception”. If I hovered over the word it said “Emergency conditions beyond UPS Control”. I’m guessing that was the snow we had. UPS doesn’t work weekends even in the holiday season so that would mean today if I’m lucky. You would think they might put it at the front of the line but it’s after four now and no package. The only reason I’m writing about this is the “Exception” claim. Can I use that on deadlines or do you have to be in a union?

I have a bunch of passes to MacWorld at the Moscone Center in SF if anyone wants them.

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Might Even Roast Some Chestnuts

Watkins and the Rapiers at he Flipside on Main Street in Rochester, NY
Watkins and the Rapiers at he Flipside on Main Street in Rochester, NY

You can tell it’s near Christmas by the amount of red that bands are wearing. Another clue is that almost every tune we heard last night was a Christmas thing. I finally got the picture and got in the spirit. Down on Main Street, at the Flipside, Watkins and the Rapiers were thoroughly entertaining. They have a Christmas cd under their belts and add new chestnuts every year. Their Christmas tunes sound like classics. The place was packed but there should have been a line out the door. These guys have rescued Christmas.

Bob Henrie and the Goners at Abilene
Bob Henrie and the Goners at Abilene

Over at Abilene the joint was rockin’. We had just walked in, our glasses were still steamed and people were trying to get us to dance. Bob Henrie and the Goners are real treasures. They are better at early rock n’ roll than anybody. Their covers sound better than the originals. Some bands sound too loud in this room and others just get lost unless you are right on top of the band but these guys sounded like a live record. They have been playing together for twenty five years or so and they are real pros but that is no reason to go see them. Go see them ’cause they are a blast.

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Hot Pants Shaker Scene

Peggi buying cabbage at the Public Market in Rochester, NY
Peggi buying cabbage at the Public Market in Rochester, NY

I loaded my mother-in-law’s SUN though SAT, MORN, NOON, EVE, BED pill container like we do every weekend but today I felt like I was loading an Advent calender. We used to have those things in our house when we were growing up and most of the little doors would be open by now. This one though has no surprises unless you forget what medicine you’re taking every day and my mother-in-law just may fall into that category.

We started the day at the Public Market downtown. I love this place especially the way it seems to draw equally from all sub cultures of the city. Red peppers were in abundance for some reason and local cabbage, pears, onions, potatoes and apples were everywhere. Christmas trees were fifteen dollars and every sort of nic nac  or common junk drawer product was there, fresh off a Chinese container. One of the fish guys tried to talk Peggi into buying an eel by wiggling it at us. “They’re good in soup”, he said. We had read a rave review of Barry from Fair Game Foods’ pastrami sandwiches in City Newspaper so waited in line for one of those and took it to our car where we listened to a cd of Margaret Explosion with Phil Marshall from last week.

It started snowing on the way home and it looked like a shaker scene. We are up to about fifteen inches of the white stuff now. We had arranged to ski with Rick and Monica so we headed right out in to the woods. Rick led the way and took us across the golf course and down a few thrill seeker hills. When we got back home we built a fire and put James Brown’s “Hot Pants lp on.

There are a few things in the running for tonight. Bob Henrie and the Goners are at Abilene and Watkins and the rapiers are doing their Christmas show at the Flipside. We might try to do both.

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Where Were We?

Lumiere at the Litle Theater Cafe in Rochester, NY
Lumiere at the Litle Theater Cafe in Rochester, NY

We were kind of tired last night but heroically headed downtown for Lumiere’s last appearance this year. Guitarist Roy Berns fell off a ladder and injured his shoulder. He’s having it operated on and will miss most of next year. The violin player they had fits their gypsy jazz sound perfectly. I still miss Ed the accordion player but no sense crying over split milk. The band sounded great.

We must have had eight inches or up here near the lake. We talked about skiing all day but didn’t get out until four or so. We skiied down to the park and then back through the woods. The path was buried and it was pretty dark so we got lost a few times. We were so turned around we didn’t even know if we were headed in the right direction. We’ll look for our tracks tomorrow and find out where we were.

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Nice Pixels

"Paul Dodd, made from Paul Dodd paintings" digital print by Steve Piotrowski
“Paul Dodd, made from Paul Dodd paintings” digital print by Steve Piotrowski


“Paul Dodd, Made from Paul Dodd Paintings” digital print by Steve Piotrowski on display at High Falls Gallery in Rochester – click photo for full picture

I first heard about this piece from John Gilmore. And then Steve emailed me that the piece was in a show at the High Falls Gallery. So Peggi and I headed over there this afternoon to check it out. Sally Wood Winslow (Janet Reno’s cousin) runs the gallery and she is so much fun to chat with that it took us about a half hour to get up the stairs to where the art is.

It is a portrait show and Steve, who also has a sensational oil painting of the falls on permanent display here, did this piece in Photoshop. He grabbed a photo of me off the web and digitally repainted my big pixels with other paintings of mine that he found online. You kind of have to squint or get away from it to make sense of the big picture. We were kind of knocked out by all this.

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