Cubism & Bolt Cutters

Paul Dodd Crime Face watercolor 2010
Paul Dodd Crime Face watercolor 2010

I was in painting class last night, listening to Fred Lipp explain the principals of Cubism as first explored by Cezanne, when Warren came in from the office to say my father was on the phone. My father told me that Peggi had called him from her downtown fitness club to say her locker had been broken into while she was swimming and her clothes and car keys had been stolen. My father said he was going to swing by the gallery and pick me up so I could give Peggi my keys and check on the car. I walked out of painting class waited for my dad out on Goodman Street.

My father packed up some of my mother’s clothes and I passed them to Peggi who was wrapped in a towel. A few minutes later she came out of the women’s locker room with my mom’s clothes on and she confessed she wasn’t entirely certain which locker she had put her stuff in. There was only one locked locker in the area and it wouldn’t open with her combination. The lock did look like hers and she had become convinced that that maybe the lock was just acting up. The woman behind the desk suggested that they cut the lock off and see. She went in the back room and came out with big red bolt cutters and the two of them headed back into the women’s locker room.

They were unable to cut through the Master Lock so they cleared the women out of the room and I went in there. It took some doing but I popped the lock and there were Peggi’s clothes and her lock was in her gym bag! All she can think is that she picked up someone else’s lock last week, put it in her bag with hers and then put that lock on her locker when she went in to the pool.

Peggi dropped me back at class picked up the Cubist discussion where we had left off.

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Summer Project

Enjoying the summer will be a project. And then there are all those summer projects. First on my list list is looking at Cubism. Fred Lipp’s orders. More like a question really. “Ever look at much Cubism?”

I started last night with the Cezanne piece and continued my investigation tonight by looking at my recent paintings with my first impressions of Cubism in mind. I was struck by how obvious it is that I am still learning to draw. That’s what I saw first. And my paintings are really drawings. And then I saw a lot of room for expression. I’m still not sure what Cubism is. I’m guessing a more imaginative way of seeing and translating is probably an important part of learning to draw. So I am still on course.

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Counterintuitive

Cezanne still life
Cezanne still life

The pool temperature hit 70 degrees today and the air is supposed to be near 90 this weekend so summer has begun. One of the past presidents of the pool club told Peggi to add chlorine tablets even though the chlorine reading was above normal. He said, “I know it’s counterintuitive”. We are trying to figure this out.

I have been painting a lot in the basement, putting a push on before the last class next week. I’m ready to start spending more time outdoors. We have tomato plants, jalapeño, basil and cilantro plants in the garden. We don’t really have a garden. The deer would get it if we planted anything here. Our neighbor, Leo has an extra lot that he has put an electric fence around and he lets us use space in there.

I brought a painting into class tonight that had some wacky eyes. One was too low but expressive. The pedestrian way I painted the nose and mouth killed the expression in the eyes so the thing needs work. My teacher suggested that I look at Cubism. He said it started with Cezanne and was driven home by Picasso and Matisse. He found a reproduction of Picasso’s “Gertrude Stein” painting that perfectlyly illustrated what he was talking about. I did a little google research and found out Picasso and Stein were both influenced by Cezanne.

I’m getting the picture that I need to be more expressive. The elements of my faces have to carry more form. Thinking about this will be my summer project.

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