3:16 PM: here’s where i’m stopping for the day so we can walk up the trail. more tomorrow.
2021 creek oil 10 stage 3 32x32”
2021 creek oil 10 stage 2 32x32”
1:43 PM: while continuing to stretch new canvases, i did a bit more on the new, 32x32” 2021 creek oil10.
at work on 2021 creek oil 10
12;35 PM: as i was stretching a new canvas, i contemplated unstretching the 32"x32” one i had stretched last week, because i realized i can’t do the level of sensitive strokes i want using that lower quality cotton canvas. the i thought, what the hell; i’ve already stretched it; lets start something new & see where it goes. here are the first marks, inspired by creek photos i shot on our walk last week.
2021 creek oil 10, 32x32” stage 1
11:16 AM: these are two pieces i made in 1963, in my studio at the time on elizabeth street, little italy, nyc. they reflect the spirit of the times, at a point when abstract experssionism had peaked, but was still the dominant mode. deKooning had made his woman series just 10 years earlier. although decidedly figurative, they contain core elements of the action painting style pioneered by pollock. i may have these two pieces somewhere in my loft space, but i won’t know till we organize it at some point.
just a few months after making these, i was to leave with my friend joe to hitchhike through europe, starting in scotland and working our way across france and spain, with the goal of ending our journey in greece. that was 1963. i remained in greece, where i got married and had my son dimitri, until 1979, which was the first time i set foot again on american soil.
you can peruse the work i did during that 15 year period by clicking on the greece tab in the drop down menu at the top of this page.
