I took some paintings from undergrad out to the landfill. They were taking up too much space, but after the fact I realise how much of a time capsule they were. Here is a self portrait from when I shared a little studio apartment above J. Pitners clothing emporium. If I could go back and paint it over I would probably use a brush instead of a knife...that was always my problem.
Self Portrait #2. I seemed to really like wearing white tank-tops in those days.
Here is a portrait of my friend Ann Pallesen. To get her to pose on that couch I had her come over to my parents house, but she wanted to be able to bring her portable VCR/TV set. i remember her watching "True Romance" while my parents ate grapefruit on a Sunday morning. Not the easiest thing to paint to. I like the Lucian Freud quality. I think I even used a brush on this one. My painting instructor, Patrice Sullivan, always referred to it as "that painting of the greyhound"

Ghosts of CSU past

It's been a trip being back at CSU. Here is Gary's office, which i'll be inhabiting for four months. It's a little too much stimulation to tell the truth. All around the office, and in the lab, are little mementoes from years past.

Dave Grant and I held a competition to see who could grow the "best" facial hair. I grew a nice, trim little 'stache, and Dave grew this Amish thing. He won.

Corey Drieth, in a pre-cursor to Photoshop editing
Jeff Lush
Gary. Note how Rachel eats Cheetos and looks unimpressed by whatever he is saying
Doug Dertinger and Corey
Shena and Brigid Mcauliffe looking very serious
Adam Schreiber in the hallway
Theo (Boo) and Shena, and Boo's cousin Josh at left
Bill and Kay - Xeroxed
This is the teaching team at CSU this semester. Me and Denise Kinrade.

Jewel of the Plains

I also stopped in Grinnel, IA, which is about 15 miles away. Louis Sullivan was the architect who built this bank in the early 1900's. It is dubbed The Jewel of the Plains, and feels like the closest thing Iowa might have to a cathedral. An amazing book about Sullivan, and a photographer named Richard Nickel, is called "They All Fall Down". Dick Nickel became obsessed by Sullivan in the 1960's as many cities in the Mid-West began to tear down important pieces of American architecture to build parking garages and newer office buildings. Nickel died when a stairwell in the Chicago Stock Exchange collapsed on him as he tried to photograph and collect artifacts before it was fully demolished "
Sullivan's signature stone work

The ceiling inside
And, a mid-west thrift store.

NYC and back

I flew out to New York last week to pick up a Howtek Scanner. I called Jarrod Beck to see if he was there, and two hours later we were eating at the Empire diner near Chelsea
Jarrod sizes up the Banks Violette exhibition
Smoke, mirrors, and drone music courtesy of the guy from Sunn))))0
I stopped in Newton, Iowa to visit my Aunt Gladys. Here is a drawing of the house she used to live in.
Gladys, 86 years old. I think its a record age for anyone in our family