Wednesday, Day 7
So, I want to go back to the final weeks of my time in DC, a heady time. I was chasing deadlines, finishing a commission, packing for this adventure, organizing artworks that I am traveling with, and desperately trying to find time to paint. Several folks in the artistic company had asked about seeing some work so I showed some pieces. A wine and cheese night was hosted each Friday in the Green Room after performances, and I suggested that I would bring in some 20-25 pieces for display, line them up casually down the hallways.
Night before, with my company apartment in complete disarray, artworks strewn everywhere, I asked myself, hey, where’s that church piece from Gold Coast in Chicago, I wanna show it, I am certain it is with me. Maybe there is more stuff in the Kia; yep, I found two boxes hidden away full of panels from the trip West and the trip to Maine. I would now be showing some sixty-plus pieces. Well, it is a generous company of artists and I was pleased and surprised to have sold many several pieces, basically for half of what I typically get in Chicago and that is just simply okay by me, I was thrilled that friends would have my artwork.
The first to sell was “Yellow House, 9th Street, SE” which I painted on the first day off when weather was decent and before understudy assignments went out (I would discover that my u/s duties were substantial and that I would not be painting for awhile unless and until I was fairly solid in my responsibilities).
The yellow house I passed every day on my way to rehearsal early on. It reminded me of van Gogh’s Yellow House at Arles, and I committed myself to doing a painting of it at first opportunity. In so doing I met the lovely Sundie who lives across the street and, coming from work, she parked near where I was painting. A conversation ensued and several more paintings came weeks later from the chance meeting– Sundie is a talented photographer, an air traffic controller by day, be nice to her, she lands your planes - and I executed a couple of paintings from her photographs in my makeshift studio. Likewise, I knocked out a few others that I really liked including "Nude on Pier" and a self-portrait of me as nineteenth-century Indiana painter, T.C. Steele, his likeness against my actor headshot.
So, I want to go back to the final weeks of my time in DC, a heady time. I was chasing deadlines, finishing a commission, packing for this adventure, organizing artworks that I am traveling with, and desperately trying to find time to paint. Several folks in the artistic company had asked about seeing some work so I showed some pieces. A wine and cheese night was hosted each Friday in the Green Room after performances, and I suggested that I would bring in some 20-25 pieces for display, line them up casually down the hallways.
Night before, with my company apartment in complete disarray, artworks strewn everywhere, I asked myself, hey, where’s that church piece from Gold Coast in Chicago, I wanna show it, I am certain it is with me. Maybe there is more stuff in the Kia; yep, I found two boxes hidden away full of panels from the trip West and the trip to Maine. I would now be showing some sixty-plus pieces. Well, it is a generous company of artists and I was pleased and surprised to have sold many several pieces, basically for half of what I typically get in Chicago and that is just simply okay by me, I was thrilled that friends would have my artwork.
The first to sell was “Yellow House, 9th Street, SE” which I painted on the first day off when weather was decent and before understudy assignments went out (I would discover that my u/s duties were substantial and that I would not be painting for awhile unless and until I was fairly solid in my responsibilities).
The yellow house I passed every day on my way to rehearsal early on. It reminded me of van Gogh’s Yellow House at Arles, and I committed myself to doing a painting of it at first opportunity. In so doing I met the lovely Sundie who lives across the street and, coming from work, she parked near where I was painting. A conversation ensued and several more paintings came weeks later from the chance meeting– Sundie is a talented photographer, an air traffic controller by day, be nice to her, she lands your planes - and I executed a couple of paintings from her photographs in my makeshift studio. Likewise, I knocked out a few others that I really liked including "Nude on Pier" and a self-portrait of me as nineteenth-century Indiana painter, T.C. Steele, his likeness against my actor headshot.
 "Yellow House, 9th Street, SE" oil 14 x 11" 2013  "Blue" oil 40 x 30" 2013  "Church at Dearborn, Gold Coast, Chicago" 2012 |  Set up for Yellow House (photo)  Artist at Yellow House 2013 (photo)  "Nude on Pier" oil 6 x 13" 2013 (n/a)  "Self-portrait as T.C. Steele" oil 14 x 11" 2013 |
Today was a good day. It started with a trip to my diner, Joe’s Diner in Lee, MA. Hot coffee to begin thawing the bones from another damp and cold night in the tent. Ordered breakfast, then had a thunderbolt moment: thought for a second, wait, this is the diner of Norman Rockwell’s famous painting “The Runaway” depicting a young boy and a policeman looking out for him, both sitting on diner stools. I look around and lo, there it is, a poster hanging above the bar, next to it an illustration of its history. Hair goes up on my forearms.
Suddenly, I am feeling real good, my day in focus. Serendipity at play. I will go to the Rockwell Museum, seven or so miles away, I will paint the iconic Gingerbread House in Tyringham and I will move to the Red Lion Inn established c 1700’s. As I enter the rural area of Tyringham, a sign “Hinterland established 1739.” That is ridiculous, that’s all I have to say about it. I paint until sunset at Red Lion, having met a whole lot of cool folks as they came up to say hello. It truly is a dream, this life. I land at Michael’s Pub for wireless and to gather thoughts from the day. The rest is… silence.
Suddenly, I am feeling real good, my day in focus. Serendipity at play. I will go to the Rockwell Museum, seven or so miles away, I will paint the iconic Gingerbread House in Tyringham and I will move to the Red Lion Inn established c 1700’s. As I enter the rural area of Tyringham, a sign “Hinterland established 1739.” That is ridiculous, that’s all I have to say about it. I paint until sunset at Red Lion, having met a whole lot of cool folks as they came up to say hello. It truly is a dream, this life. I land at Michael’s Pub for wireless and to gather thoughts from the day. The rest is… silence.
 "Gingerbread House, Tyringham, MA" Set Up (photo) |  Set Up at Red Lion Inn, Stockbridge, MA (photo) 2013 |
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