Greg Cook (boston-area comics artist, art critic, and thoughtful dude) wrote up our art show at AS220 on his New England Journal of Aesthetic Research and reviews it further, in the Providence Phoenix. Some good comments and good constructive criticism. It seems that he falls more or less in the same place I find myself, in terms of what is unsatisfactory to me in the work I am doing, the areas I struggle with. hmm…

Now I’m working hard in the non-virtual world to a) take care of long-neglected logistical & organizational tasks, and b) to actually do the work and make the objects that are of interest to me, and possibly, to you! Summer is here, and in the past week I’ve somehow re-started planting stuff in my community garden plot, and am now cooking interesting food again (meaning: including vegetables!, as opposed to just eggs, cheesy eggs, PBJ sandwiches, grilled cheese, tuna fish sandwiches, beans & rice, and oatmeal). It’s hard to stay inside when the sun is out and the wind is blowing.

I’ve been putting work first for a while now, so this past week, I’ve been doing a bunch of things that, though not strictly necessary, have removed the burden of “oh crud, I really need to take care of that soon, it just gets worse the longer I put it off!” echoing through my head every time I think about them. These include: digging out my bed in the community garden and re-filling it with healthier soil, transferring the patient cacti and succulents into larger pots, being in contact with some old friends, emptying out the gross bottom layer from the worm-compost bucket, etc. Amazingly, there were still some worms alive in there, in a mass of their completely chewed through and digested soil — despite the fact that I got overwhelmed with managing the compost back in the late fall, and haven’t looked at it, at all, for six months! Now it has been replenished with new ripped-up newspaper and some fresh veggie scraps, from the leek soup I made last night. Building a new bin for the worms, of the right size and depth, is still on the list of “stuff that is stressful to look at and think about how I need to do it soon” — but, the fact that the worms are alive at all is a reassuring reminder that a) things get done and b) things will be okay.

Here are some previews of projects that students with whom I am working at NUA are getting ready for their final show.

This is a print about one student’s house, that was bought (and has now been demolished) by the developers that bought the mill next door, so the parking lot for their condos could be larger. The large building in the background of the poster will have tentacles coming out of it & wrapping around the smaller house…

Another student is working on this insanely complex, 4-color print that will go on T-shirts and maybe some posters. It started out as just a guy with a clock-face and some leaves on his head, and morphed into this awesome dude surfing, with multi-colored plant/pineapple hair that has a kite, flowers, and a hawk coming out of it… It rules.

“What Time Is It?”

“Time To Get Wild!”

The New Urban Arts end-of-year Art Party & Interactive Exhibition will be Friday, May 16th, 6-8 pm. Come and check out the finished versions of this work and more, plus a fashion show, zine release, film screenings, etc. — all by Providence high school students. It’s all free, open to the public, handicapped accessible, etc, at 743 Westminster St (corner of Dean & Westminster, right across from Classical & Central High Schools, just down the block from White Electric Coffee Shop).

For more info on NUA, and to download an art party invitation, here’s our website.

and it’s almost ready.

[The back room/drawing room mess pile. I will document the show & put up some better images — for now, if you want to see any of this in focus, well... you gotta come to the gallery!]

I finished the brand new “57-59 Curtis St.” print at around 4 am — printed a third color on a bunch of copies of the “Ruins” print (aka “Pierre Van Passen Interviews Buenaventura Durruti, Aragon, Spain, 1936″) — washed the ink out of that screen — now to take a shower while it dries. Out of the shower — set up the screen again and print the fourth color. Then — done! and, sleep.

There will be other logistics to think about (for example, it’s raining, so I’ll have to find a ride to get my stash of posters over to the gallery), but if I can get that last color printed and looking all right on at least one copy of the print, I will be happy and feel that my somewhat perverse last-minute determination hasn’t failed me, at least not this time.

Today, Sunday, May 4, 4-7 pm, AS220′s project space (on mathewson, off washington, downtown providence). map & street view here. Come by & see the multiple reasons why I am so darn sleepy right now.

[front gallery, friday, before adjusting the lights, obviously. Stephen's work is to the left. This is the part that looks like an "art show"... as I guess it's supposed to? no logic here, sorry, too sleepy!]

Oh and yes, it is 9 am, and yes, I’m still awake!