This is a blurry cell-phone photograph of my painting Tree of Knowledge getting packed in a beautiful crate made by Alexandra's dad. It was selected for the Au Naturel group show at Clatsop Community College in Astoria, Oregon. So if all goes well, I may never see it in person again. All goes well = someone buys it. I can't make it to the show opening myself.Can I just say, this crate is gorgeous? I had passed on the measurements to Alexandra's dad, and the interior fits them perfectly. At all pressure points, it is lined with soft padding. Its lid is attached with powerful hinges, and is held shut by ten screws. It is one of the simplest and most satisfying utilitarian objects I have had the pleasure to own.
Now I need to call the shipping company.
What a wonderful painter you are, and anybody would be jealous of a crate like this! You're very lucky! I had a quick glance through your blog, looks very interesting, will be back to read more (but the easel calls lol)
ReplyDeleteThank you Jade! That's very kind of you. I'm glad you enjoyed the blog, and I'll look forward to seeing you around here. Have fun painting!
ReplyDeleteI'm glad this works out for you. I hope the painting sells. It's one of my favorites of yours.
ReplyDeleteI never heard of such a utilitarian object referred to as "beautiful" before. My hunch is that you are extremely grateful the thing does what it supposed to do. You make me realize just how many things an artist must acquire and use and rely upon just to practice his art.
Thanks Chris! If it does sell, you can bet I'll brag about it here.
ReplyDeleteI called the object "beautiful" in the sense of "form follows function." Or didn't you ever read "The Fountainhead" when you were 15? This object has to do one well-defined thing. It has everything it needs to accomplish this one task, and everything is placed in such a way, and made from such a material, as to maximize its ability to do its job while minimizing cost. It is like a perfectly adapted organism, like a trilobite (before they got all rococo). In this sense, it is beautiful in its own right (and partakes of wu) - but I am, indeed, grateful that it will likely get my painting across the country without hurting it.
Goddamn an artist has to acquire a lot of stuff just to get to square 1. Don't get me started about paints that are too sticky.