12:20 PM: this is todays 11x17” drawing/collage on smooth bristol paper. the title refers to the standing figure on the right, inspired by a matisse painting, who appears to be standing in a doorway. the play refers to the feeling of the composition as a whole which, relative to recent works on paper has a more playful atmosphere. the critical grey shading came in at the last minute and allows the composition to be read from a distance.
doorplay, 11x17” colored pencil & collage on bristol paper
9/11/26: today i’m working on a new 36x38” painting in colored pencil and oil on portrait linen, titled dutch sunday.
day 1 of dutch sunday, 36 x 38” oil & colored pencil on portrait linen
8/9/26 construction worker, 32x32” oil on portrait linen, following this mornings lightening of the black
7:52 AM: upon entering my studio this morning, it was immediately apparent that the black in yesterdays construction worker painting was way too intense and overwhelmed the rest of the painting.
so, in an unusual move even before meditating or having breakfast, i mixed a medium grey oil color and lightly scumbled over the black using a large flat brush. i think it’s a great improvement, allowing the figure of the construction worker with his blue outfit to pop. as well, i did some work on his hands and arms.
i made mikela a pretty damned good cup of coffee with my yemeni beans, half of which i roasted and the other half roasted by al mokha.
2026 CONSTRUCTION WORKER, 32x32” oil on portrait linen
12:13 PM: i made this 32x32” painting today of a CONSTRUCTION WORKER at work. this 32x32” stretched portrait linen has been sitting in my studio for months. today i was moved to make a new painting inspired by a photo of a construction worker in blue. the canvas went through several stages which i painted over until i discovered this photo i had printed out last year.
as mikela just pointed out, it’s an interesting companion piece to this 25x25” painting: kAREN WITH SUITCASE.
karen with suitcase, 25×25” oil on portrait linen
1PM: i started work on a new 32x32” painting in oil on portrait linen, titled dancing figures. although it’s still early in the process, you can see the dancing figure on the left and the start of the singer holding a mike on the right. the setting is a taiko drumming concert in japan. i’m familar with this because we’ve had such concerts here in crestone in the recent past.
7:29 am this morning from our house
I learned about Joe Hill at Birchwoods, the summer camp near Huntington, Mass., which i attended from about 5 to 16 years old. Today I couldn’t get the song I Dreamed I saw Joe Hill Last Night out of my head, so i decided to post it to my blog.
This song will live forever in my consciousness, and so I offer my thanks to the founders of Birchwoods, Sonya & Otto Rosahn, whose vision made it all possible.
JOE HILL’s last poem, followed by the lyrics to the song i learned at Birchwoods:
My Will is easy to decide
For there is nothing to divide.
My kin don't need to fuss and moan.
"Moss does not cling to rolling stone."
My body?—Oh!—If I could choose
I would to ashes it reduce
And let the merry breezes blow
My dust to where some flowers grow.
Perhaps some fading flower then
Would come to life and bloom again.
This is my Last and Final Will—
Good Luck to All of you,
Joe Hill
Joe Hill
by Alfred Hayes
I dreamed I saw Joe Hill last night,
alive as you and me.
Says I “But Joe, you’re ten years dead”
“I never died” says he,
“I never died” says he.
“In Salt Lake City, Joe,” says I,
Him standing by my bed,
“They framed you on a murder charge,”
Says Joe, “But I ain’t dead,”
Says Joe, “But I ain’t dead.”
“The Copper Bosses killed you Joe,
they shot you Joe” says I.
“Takes more than guns to kill a man”
Says Joe “I didn’t die”
Says Joe “I didn’t die”
And standing there as big as life
and smiling with his eyes.
Says Joe “What they can never kill
went on to organize,
went on to organize”
From San Diego up to Maine,
in every mine and mill,
Where workers strike and organize
it’s there you’ll find Joe Hill,
it’s there you’ll find Joe Hill!
I dreamed I saw Joe Hill last night,
alive as you and me.
Says I “But Joe, you’re ten years dead”
“I never died” says he,
“I never died” says he.
“I never died” says he.
2:11 PM: today i made a new 11x17” version of my 1966 painting, the hat shop, in watercolor, colored pencil & gouache on paper. the original was made the year my son dimitri was born. my former mother-in law and i made frequent trips to piraeus to search for shops like this one, which became the inspiration for a series of paintings.
9/6/26 the hat shop, 11x17” colored pencil, watercolor & gouache on paper
the hat shop, 25×26” 1966, oil on linen
this afternoon we had lunch at sweeties, a restaurant in salida, where i made a drawing of people at a nearby table.
9/3/26 colored pencil drawing from sweeties
2:47 PM: today i revisited a 1966 painting that i made the year Dimitri was born: 1966. I would drive down to Pireaus, where there were beautiful little shops. i was into making paintings of interiors at that time, and when i discovered this little hat shop I knew I had to make paintings of it. At that time I wasn’t working from photos, so I came back with my painting materials and began making an oil painting while sitting in the drivers seat of my car.
I can’t tell you how, but somehow this painting survived and found it’s way to my studio here in the Crestone Baca Grand. And today, 60 years after making the original painting, I started an 11x17” gouache on bristol paper titled The Hat Shop.
1:49 PM: i’ve been working and reworking this painting for a couple of weeks on & off. today i think i may have hit a sweet spot, so i’ll leave it and see how i feel tomorrow morning.
the blue on her collar makes it sing. in yesterdays verson, she’s pulling a suitcase on wheels, which i took out because it was distracting and uneccessary for the composition.
9/1/26 karen from above, as she looked today
10:55 AM: first thing i do every morning is make mikela’s coffee. yesterday my coffee bean grinder broke, so i had to temporarily grind the beans with an extra small grinder i have until the new one i ordered is delivered on thursday. it doesn’t grind them fine enough to use in the moka pot, but i’ll just have to make do till thursday.
once i prepared her coffee, i proceeded to work on a new 11x17” colllage on extra smooth bristol paper.
8/30/26 collage, 11x17” colored pencil, charcoal & collaged paper on smooth bristol paper
