never redo an old painting

Odysseus on the Island of Circe 1978

The Professor discovered this picture rolled up and thought it should be improved. Do not ask WHY?

He has moments of maddness. It is or was a primal scream painting. He laid it out and worked on it, totally changing and remaking it. He rolled it up and is letting it rest and will go back at it later, but it is not the same. DO NOT REWORK WHAT WAS.

in memoriam: Dick Wray

WWDD

What Would Dick Do?

Or

WDDD

What DID Dick Do?

Mr. Crow is gone amidst a tumult of Thunder and Lighting.

I have lost he who was so important to my work; indeed I have lost 4 artists this year who were my peers.

Dick Wray was and is a persona not to be ignored.   I have to chase him out of my studio every day. If he is there, I know it.

I saw a show of his shortly after I arrived in Houston as a young man. Dick and I are only 5 years apart, but Dick appeared older, regal, and totally self-assured. I approached him and said “Mr. Wray I like your work, it has balls.”  He ignored me.

Then,  a few years later he told me he liked my work because it was filled with ideas, but was totally unfocused. He was right. His work bounced all over, yet remained focused on the object, the picture as an expression of a joyful and hedonistic life.

Dick and Beth came to my most recent show. That was a total surprise because Dick seldom appeared at anyone’s show.  Later, we exchanged paintings. I got the better deal.

People judge us by their first impression. It rarely changes. Once Dick was set in your mind, he was always that Dick.

Quote” I’d rather a Dick Wray in my house than Dick Wray”. Unquote

You had to get over that Dick and enjoy and participate in what was there…the Dionysian, the demonic, and the hedonistic freedom.

He was Houston’s Jackson Pollack…. Pissing in the fireplace…. figuratively not literally…. at least I had never heard of such an occurrence…but I would not put that out of the question.

Mention him and you get a definite response….nothing marginal.

Women Loved him, many hated Him.

On men he was even harder, particularly  if you called yourself an artist.

He and his work were one; challenging, purposely politically incorrect.

You had to enter into the fray…..play….love the discourse……and above all Laugh.

He was a great Sexist. He loved to embarrass people of both sexes. A Friend, an ex-student came to town and asked to meet Dick Wray. She is very attractive. I said “I will take you. You should not go alone.”

Sure enough there were naked lady pictures all over and he gave one of his best performances…He was the Great Dick. She totally enjoyed herself and said I was right…Not by Herself…

Not that Dick would have done anything inappropriate….he just presumed it.

If you had personal issues he would find them and play on them, see where he could take them, just as in his pictures. It was all part of the great dance; forever young,

always maturing…

and then, the Crow in Winter.

Dick often said, “ that painting is an old man’s game.”

I agree.

Dick was always Dick from his first pictures…

he just got better at being DICK.

Never do Art and finance mix. Just visit the galleries and see that evidenced.

Dick made pictures for himself and Knew that they were good and if you wanted to buy one that was good, and if you did not that was ok. He did not make product. His last great show sold nothing.

As he lay dying, his home was filled with friends. Never have I seen a death so well attended and photographed….. I hope never to see those photographs on the Internet;

But, I treasure one where he is sitting up in bed holding my hands very tightly

in his huge warm grip…

staring at me….

telling me without words to carry the torch,

not to forget.

I will do that.

I hope you will too.

Bob Camblin

The Professor's friend Bob Camblin died Sunday morning December 3rd. He came to Houston to teach at Rice the year after ther Professor was hired. They became fast friends and shared studios for many years . The Professor learned how  to draw and paint  from Bob.

 Bob was a gregarious story teller.He could entertain for hours as can be seen in the above picture . Bob showed his paintings and drawings at the David Gallery and the Moody Gallery. Then he dropprd out. In the 80s he and his wife Nancy and moved to the Oregon coast and then to the New Orleans suburb of La Place. His friends in Houston never heard from him again

In the 60's and 70's Bob and The Professor shared a studio off Montrose which they called B and E Productions and organized shows such as the Tatoo Show at David gallery (before Tatoos were a fashion statement). The Professor was let go from Rice. The Menils moved to Rice,The Professor moved to St. Thomas to begin the studio Art Department with Jack Boynton and Pat Colville . Joe Tate was hired to replace The Professor. The chair at Rice John O'Neil had a wonderful capacity for hiring teachers with whom he could not get along. John was a disiplined painter and teacher and he hired The Professor and Bob and Joe who were the exact opposite. The Professor and Bob and Joe teamed up as the Holding Firm and rented a house a block south of Alabama behind what is now the Blue Bird Circle store  and proceeded to knock down walls and build a second story deck with a third story tower and then a enclosing wall...all without a permit.

Collaborative drawings and paintings were  weekly lessons then collaborative shows at The U. of St. Thomas. Joe Tate's Backyard and The Camping Show were outstanding examples. Ideas...painting, drawing and  objects devoured us. The Professor has  home movies  on a DVD of many these events .The Professor thanks the Bascilian Fathers of St. Thomas for their endulgance. He was chair at ST. Thomas but Bob and Joe  became ever more divorced from teaching and were always in conflict at Rice...finally leaving teaching.  The Professor hired Joe at St. Thomas and within a year had to let him go and in 1974 the Holding Firm broke up. The Professor moved to his own studio on Peveto and then after his divorce to a house on Hickory and had no contact with them. Joe moved back to California  and Bob moved to a small studio in Waugh Drive. Bob was now divorced and several meaningful romances left him broken hearted.The Professor connected again and we began our friendship on a  less intense level. His small place was a treasure tableau of the curious and outragous that he had collected or traded ...it was as entering a wizard's den. The Professor knows of no photos recording that space.There Bob produced wondrous work and entertained those who came by. Bob owned a Mr. Peanut costume/shell in which he often portrayed himself; signing many works Mr. Peanut and finally Anonymous..Then he stopped...selling or giving all the  treasure away. He met Nancy and they move to Oregon and then to Louisiana and we saw him no more. He did come back for a quick visit a to see Joe (who had returned) before he died. Bob was uncomfortable back in Houston and with his old friends who wanted to Know...and slippery as Bob was he quickly disappeared. We never heard from him except via proxies and we know nothing of his life or work. Recently his supporters in Houston tried to organize a show of his work at a Houston Museum to no avail. After his stroke there was a show of his work at a frame shop to gather funds for his and Nancy's support. There must be treasures in his estate.

It has been so many years that we have missed his presense. He is forever with The Professor as a friend and teacher.

new and old

Here is a new picture. Winged House. 48x24

Mary Margaret worked too.

Today in class I worked on this.

Then there was the warehouse...

Assembly Park, Delavan Lake, Wisconsin  early 1970s.

Map of the Professor's childhood summer cottage.

Camp Dan Beard  early 70s

Weekend Boy Scout  camp out site, Thatcher Woods, Chicago, Ill. 

Bacchanal I980s

He began this before he went to Italy and finished it after he came back.

Palm acrylic and glitter 1970s-1980s

There was once a landscape in  Maine.

Landscape with Tree 1960s-1980s

part of a tree series from the late 60's

The Professor will rework.

Recuerdo 1970x

acrylic/glitter

Parts to be used

Skull with Cactus

1973

A keeper

Mermaid and Triton  begun in the 70s and finished in the 80s after the Professor returned from Italy

Valley of Oaxaca, Mexico from The Professor's studio in San Gabriel, Etla, Oaxaca

The Professor loved this place. He went here as often as he could..it was perfect. He made many pictures here. Rex and Lolly Marcum who owned the place loved and took care of many Houston artists. The Professor visited often as he could beginning in 1976 until he went to Italy in 1981. They are both dead.

 He loved them.

Some pictures work others do not.

The Path 1988

This works...and He will keep it, but it is uninspired.

Mermaid/Skull 1970-1980s He is considering doing more to it.

Winged Skull 1970s ???? Keep or not?????  He thinks he can do more to it.

If it was smaller he would leave it but its about 36x36 so more can to be done.

There is not enough time for any of this. New work awaits.

The Professor considers artist's as the true force and is amazed at the power given to those who make NOTHING. The pretense of gallery owners, curators, critiques, consultans, collectors and all those that decree and decide.  Yet the artist's needs them. There are so many of us, they do not need us. Today Picasso Matisse etc could not, too edgy, too demanding. Keep making it, do not stop. Do not be discouraged although it is impossible. BELIEVE!

The Professor gets older

Election day. Who knows what the population will decide.
He turned 72. He is now considered old. How did that happen?
He spent the day teaching Byzantine art history...not his favorite period and teaching drawing . He also got to work on this picture. It is 48x60 and has been problematic since it's conception a few weeks ago. It has become something other than how it started.

October 4, 2010

October 6th

November 2   stage 1

November 2  stage 2

November 2 3rd stage

This one strange picture. The Professor will let it rest for a while.

Mermaid Intervention

The Professor has finally decided that this picture is done. It is made up of old pictures that have been rejected by him from his estate then torn and reused.

Mermaid Intervention 48x48 

acrylic on collaged canvas on masonite



Extra Credit

The Professor gives his Art History class a chance to bring their test grade up from a F to a D, or a D to a C etc. Here is the question.
Extra Credit
Due the next class
Essay
Completely and correctly written this will raise your Greek Test by one grade.
Question:
One of the architects of the Parthenon is responsible for another famous building
that is still in existence.
Who is this architect?
What is the building?
Where is it?
What was its purpose?
What major architectural innovations are found in this building?
Be Complete in your answer

 10 Tried and 2 were correct.