Reclining Nude

One of the standard historical art poses is the reclining female nude. This type of pose has been used widely since the Renaissance to illustrate classical Greek stories, reimagined in the Colonial 19th century with the facination of the Orient as depicted with the Odalisque, and brought through the modern era with the engagment of the viewer by examining the female form and identity and the political and socialogical struggle that it was coupled with. The above two studies of Janet and Anna are just a few of the many reclining nudes an artist will have to do before he can master the female form. Keep in mind that one needs a full range of ethnicities, skin tones and body types to truly understand all the subtle charateristics of the anatomy.

Inspired Art

There is an organization called America Scores that works hard to provide after school activities for disadvantaged youth in urban communities. They offer sports such as soccer and creative activities like writing and play acting. I am humbly participating in their Inspired Art fundraising initiative in which artists create a work of art that is based on a poem of one of the children in the program. An artist always finds inspiration from a great many sources and illustrating prose is an excellent way to master mood and emotional resonance. This piece is titled "No one is there to tell her everything is ok." It is a multiple color woodblock print. I carved into birch panel and used water based inks on very fine paper. The poem is from an 11 year old girl and is as follows:

LONLINESS

This girl sits in the corner and cry alone

With no one by her side as sad as she is

She feels like garbage with everyone against her

While she stays everyday with no one there
To tell her everything will be ok
She feels like her family regrets her being born
She hates the fact that she has to feel this way
And she feels like a big disgrace.



If you are interested in helping America Scores please visit their blog: http://americascoreschicago.blogspot.com/

Alpha Conflagration

This print was done with etching with aquatint and is part of the disaster series. One can find shelter from the wind, rising waters and moving earth, but the raging inferno is impossable to avoid. This image has been in my mind since I was a young man and first read about the fire bombing of Dresden by allied forces towards the end of the second World War. Fire is all consuming and nature's ultimate destroyer.