Studio Time Continues

Sunday's New York Times ran a cover story about the volitility of weather patterns these days-- the flood in Pakistan being another in a long list of natural disasters this year.
It's something I had been working through myself in my Angry Landscape series, where the landscape strikes back against humanity. Not unlike the mutant Godzilla, nature can only put up with so much, and I was sad to see our hand in disrupting the balance of nature once again. With these ideas in mind, it became a productive weekend in the studio. Setting up on the screened in porch at Potic Cottage, malm stove burning to ward off the dampness of the torrential thunderstorms which passed through the Hudson Valley all weekend, I was able to work through some Angry Landscapes in preparation for the Ripe Art Gallery show in December. The more finished paintings are oil on paper-- an odd combination I know, but I love the way the oil is absorbed into the thick paper. It gives a richness that gouache, which I use for the collages, simply lacks. The top image, titled Evergreen Terrace, is loosely based on my childhood house which was situated across the street from an envelope factory which was dumping glue into the ground in tubs. Needless to say we were on well water, and my parents became the whistleblowers who ended this practice. With the ground safe from toxins, I wonder if the evergreens ever returned. Meanwhile, let's hope Nature's balance can be set right before she gets too angry.