This appeared in my digital wanderings last night, starting with an energy minimized glucose. It reminded me of a Miro, painted on glass, that hung on the wall in my home long ago.

An  oil painting done in early September near Shelburne Pond.   As I recall it was sunny and warm.

Bryan puts the finishing touches on his Sumi-e painting,  A Forest of Brushes. This was a result of exercises associated with Dodson’s Chapter 8 on Drawing and the Imagination. Many interesting paintings and drawings resulted from this week’s exercise. Ewa and Toby garnered the most votes for creative and imaginative work on Wednesday and Thursday evenings, respectively.

It’s snowing right outside of town today. The mountains are covered, the temperature is hovering around 32 degrees right outside my door, and the rain is about to turn to snow or sleet. The watercolor above was done about this time a few years ago. The painting is now owned by the Carruthers family, and I only have this digital image left (low resolution.)

This week in class we are hearing student presentations and doing extensive work on revision, composing and editing of student papers. We are also working on exercises in Dodson’s Chapter 8, Drawing and the Imagination, in preparation for his visit to us on December 6th. I’ll try and post some of the student work in this area tomorrow. Then students are on break for Thanksgiving next week. On November 27th and 28th, all the final manuscripts of student papers are due, along with portfolios of all drawings and journal books. I’ll have a LOT of reading and grading to do. THEN maybe I’ll have time for some oil painting.

Had a request for a possible exhibit of the Molecular Colorscapes I’ve been posting on this site. It would be at a photography exhibit coming up this winter at a gallery down by the lake. I’ll have to check with Matt, my son, about whether we can collaborate on the printing of these digital images. He does great things at his business, Subatomic Digital (perfect name for what these images represent). Framing costs will be an issue, but American Frame online does has a great selection at very good prices. I know these images are not saleable and I’m constantly questioning why I should exhibit them at all, other than on this site. It is not the first time this issue has arisen. And I’ve been following Spurgeon’s parable on the “Mini Golf Way”, which is a humorous, philosophical consideration of the problem. They are great fun to create, and for the moment, that’s enough for me.

The next North Hero class on ink wash (on November 26th) is now up to 10 students. More details for you folks attending, and who keep up with this site, will be forthcoming shortly.

I may try to tranform these digital pictures to oil when I can get the time.  This one emerged from a sign wave distort!

For those of you reading the news in far away warm places, Vermont is now getting cold in the evenings. Last night after leaving dinner with friends the top of the car was covered with ice and the temperature was about 20 degrees. The painting above (of our backyard) was done about 4 months ago. It was en plein air and took about an hour. It was hot and toasty outside. Well, more like hot and drippy. It’s not my usual style, but I’m trying to learn how to do these paintings all in one sitting. More often I do oils one layer after another. Tad Spurgeon has taught me a lot about these different ways of painting, and I enjoy very much seeing his “News” and the wonderful paintings there and on his site generally.

I’ve got some exhibits coming up. One in mid summer, 2008 at the Catamount Gallery in St. Johnsbury and one at the Gruppe Gallery in Jericho in Spring of 2009. I’ve had a few requests from folks wishing to buy paintings they’ve seen on the web site, but at this point I haven’t decided whether selling paintings is what I really should be doing. It certainly isn’t a money making activity, and I don’t have that large a body of work. I haven’t been painting in oils for the last two months. Teaching at UVM (and a little at North Hero) has taken up all my time. The teaching ends in less than a month, and then I can slowly begin again, as well as visiting the west (California) and the east (City of Light). Rebecca has been taking French classes in the evening. I’m hoping she will be our translator in Paris. The galleries and museums there are wonderful, and I’m looking forward to visiting them again.

The next North Hero class is on November 26th, and will be an introduction to ink wash techniques. Dorice and Charlie Clark are closing the shop/gallery there after many years. I wish they would turn it into an art center/gallery. I’m thinking of teaching “Drawing for the Terrified” in South Burlington at the High School next April and May where they rent rooms in the evening. I may put an ad in the local paper to see the response. For those reading this blog who might be interested, please see the courses and workshops section of the website for a course description. If you think you might like to attend, send me an email. The course in North Hero can also continue if folks there are interested.

You can go and visit Bert’s website at:

http://www.artbarkgallery.com/host/bertdodson/index.html

When Bert came last year he talked about his philosophy of drawing and about his comic strip “Nuke,” had the students do some exercises and then did a demonstration portrait of a student. I presume his visit this year will be even better. It is tentatively scheduled for December 6th.

The top picture started out as a molecule of Luciferin. I never know where these paintings will wind up when they start. The bottom picture is a better shot of Sarah Souza and Chengzhi Mao in class last week. Today I’m working on a portrait, soon to be a gift, as well as meeting students for registration appontments.