Wednesday, November 28, 2012

In progress, Self-Portrait in charcoal




Self-Portrait 1
Charcoal on paper
38 x 25 1/2 inches

First initial stage.
This past week has been a tumultuous one at home so today I decided to play hooky from work and make a self-portrait.  I hadn't made a self-portrait since I was an undergraduate at Humboldt State University.  I started this at about 9 this morning and stopped working around 3 in the afternoon with a break for lunch and letting the dog out occasionally.

Dirty hands at lunchtime.
Making art is one of the most therapeutic endeavors I know of.  Personally, it helps me forget about the world around me and allows me to focus on something I enjoy.  I found so much peace today in the simple rubbing of the charcoal into the paper.  While making this I also listened to the dead Can Dance album Toward the Within.  With the combination of good music and making art I found myself lost in the shapes, lines and values of the charcoal.  Total bliss.

2 1/2 hours into it.
I plan on finishing this in the next couple of days of which I will put it up for sale on dailypaintworks.com.  Look for it!! -M





Monday, November 19, 2012

Visiting Israeli Artists at UMass Lowell

Last week I had the pleasure of working with two artists, Esther Yaloz and Lital Gold, from Israel that attended the same school.  They both now live and work here in the United States, one in upstate New York and the other in Philadelphia.  Both work in the textile industry as designers.



 They came to our school as a part of a larger group of faculty and students from their home school to work with our students.  So Lital and Esther had my students create stencils that were used to help create a 'wreath' printed with inks and paint markers onto some rough cut wood I had kicking around the house cut to roughly 8 x 10 inch dimensions.











The stencils created by my students were placed over stencils Lital and Esther created and were pieced together in a wreath orientation.  The students enjoyed getting a little dirty in class and saw how layering could make for some great results.  Now that the pieces have been printed, I will be trimming them and puling the entire wreath together a little bit more to be displayed in an exhibition at school.

It was a pleasure to work with Lital and Esther.  They both inspired my students and myself!!



Tuesday, November 13, 2012

Posting work on dailypaintworks.com


Orbital Symmetry
Oil and ink on canvas
8 x 13 inches
2006

Today I've been posting some of my older work on dailypaintworks.com in hopes of sparking some interest.  These paintings seem so old to me, yet they were done just a few years ago.  Amazing how so much can happen in such a short amount of time.  I posted a painting that was almost done just before the fire and I came to look at it recently with a new found meaning for myself.  It was inspired by the book 'Of Mice and Men' by John Steinbeck.  The title of the painting is 'Lennie's Dog' and depicts a cocker spaniel.  I was trying to show life and death at the same time.  The character in the book was a large man who had a predisposition to soft things.  He liked to pet them, so much so that they would be crushed by his love for them.  He loved them too much (something I am finding in my own life).  Anyway, here it is.

Lennie's Dog
Acrylic on canvas
13 x 21 inches
2012

Have a great day.  More paintings to come.  -Mike

Powhida: CynicalAdvice 2012

Artwork by William Powhida seen at http://dailyserving.com/2012/11/art-vexation-interview-with-william-powhida/

Words to live by?  Maybe.  -Mike

Sunday, November 11, 2012

I'm back!! And with new stuff in the works.

Ginger Gold Apples
8 X 10 inches
Acrylic on canvas
2012
$50.00

Well, its been a long time since I've been on here to post anything and I've decided to make this blog more about the art I'm making than about art made by other people.  I will however post from time to time about work that inspires me.

Anyway, here is my first painting in a series I am working on that will have a similar theme.  Fruit still-lifes.  This was a lot of fun and really forced me to remember some basic tenants of painting that I had long since forgotten.

This painting and the rest of this series as well as any other whim that comes along can be seen at Daily Paint Works.   Here's the link:  http://www.dailypaintworks.com/Artists/michael-roundy-3348 

I've also been more active on my page at Facebook so take a look at that:  www.facebook.com/michaelroundyart

Have a great day.
-Mike

Monday, May 9, 2011

With cuts to the arts, what will we have lost? | Concord Monitor


Friday, March 11, 2011

Stops Along the Way- Paintings by Bob Larson

Bob Larson, formerly a Concord lawyer, has been painting for years and has long been a patron of the arts, curating exhibits at his former law firm Sulloway and Hollis in Concord as well as sitting on the board of the University of NH Art Museum.  My first introduction to him came through a mutual friend and stone artist, Chance Anderson of whom the two collaborated on several sculptural pieces depicting the plight of Earth's global warming crisis.  I'm hoping to make it to the opening tonight (March 11th) at McGowan Fine Art on Hills Ave. in Concord from 5-7pm.  Hope you can make it too.

Here's the announcement from the McGowan Fine Art blog:

McGowan Fine Art announces “Stops Along the Way” featuring the paintings of Bob Larsen. The show will run from March 1 through April 1, with an artist’s reception on March 11 from 5 to 7 PM. This show is a benefit for Canterbury Shaker Village and is free and open to the public.

Bob Larsen is a noted local artist and former lawyer. His work has been featured most recently at the Sharon Arts Center, but also at the Sulloway Gallery in Concord, NH and the Forbes Galleries in New York City. As a lawyer Bob was in charge of the art acquisition and exhibition program at Sulloway & Hollis Law Firm where he was able to give outlet to his creative side by curating. In the past 15 years his passion to paint crystallized into something more than a hobby. A four month sabbatical and the inevitable retirement gave him the large chunks of time needed to develop his artistic skills.

Larsen has been recognized in the past for capturing the iconic structures of the state: the Capitol Dome, the buildings of Canterbury Shaker Village. For this show he revisits many of these icons but puts a twist on them. He bridges past and present by incorporating the contemporary and historic landscape. In ‘Benning Wentworth House” he has included the shadowy silhouettes of the Naval Shipyard cranes towering over the dignified yellow mansion. In “Lempster Wind Farm” the Washington Town Hall steeple vies with the stately wind towers. Some of the other icons he depicts are Strawberry Banke, Canterbury Shaker Village, the Bridges House and Gould Hill Orchard in Concord and the Cog Railway.


Mr. Larsen’s paintings are readily recognizable by their strong shadows and frequent use of reflections in windows. Attention to detail is his hallmark. In “Ministry” his close up of an historic window in the Ministry Building of Canterbury Shaker Village depicts the distorted images of other buildings, distant landscape and the shadowy image of a bowl and ewer sitting on the sill- effectively rendering three different worlds. “These paintings take me quite a bit of time to work out” says Larsen. “They might take a month a piece and I am a ruthless cropper. The painting generally starts off quite a bit larger than the finished piece. As I finish up I start to distill it down to the final composition.”


Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Measuring Up: New Hampshire Arts Education Data Project


This should be interesting, unfortunately I will be teaching at these times so I can't make it.  I'm looking forward to seeing the results though.  With all of the cuts school districts are making around the state, I'm sure the 'state of arts education' is going to continue to decline.  
-M
P.S.  When I hear of the results, I will post them here.

Educators, Administrators, Artists, Arts Advocates, Parents, Students & Community Leaders:  
 
You are cordially invited to attend a rollout event for the release of Measuring Up: New Hampshire Arts Education Data Project Report. The report includes findings from the 2008-09 school-by-school arts survey plus recommendations and actions for strengthening arts education in our state. Two events, both free and open to the public, are planned:  
 
Wednesday, March 9, 3:00 p.m.                   Thursday, March 10, 2:30 p.m.
Currier Museum of Art                                  North Country Education Services 
150 Ash Street                                              300 Gorham Hill Road
Manchester, NH                                            Gorham, NH
 
RSVPs are appreciated. Please click here to view the e-vite and to reserve a seat at either the March 9 or 10th event:  For additional information about the project, visit the Measuring Upwebsite: www.aannh.org/measuringup.  Videostreaming is available for the Gorham rollout; email us at info@aannh.org if you would like instructions for viewing.
 
Bob Morrison, lead researcher for the project and founder of Quadrant Arts Education Research, will present at both events. Mr. Morrison is recognized for supporting arts education through his work at VH1 Save the Music and his leadership among states with their arts data collection projects.
 
Tomie dePaola, award-winning NH author and illustrator, will speak at the Manchester event.
New Hampshire Fiddler Patrick Ross and his apprentice Dalton Binette will play at the Gorham rollout.  
 
Thank you! We hope to see you next week.
 
Marcia McCaffrey, New Hampshire Department of Education
Catherine O'Brian, New Hampshire State Council on the Arts
Frumie Selchen, Arts Alliance of Northern New Hampshire
 
Please forward this invitation to other teachers, education leaders, parents, artists and arts advocates who are interested in this work.

Saturday, February 12, 2011

The Future of Art, an immediated autodocumentary

Great thoughts on the output of art in this information driven time.  What is the right tool for the job?  Do traditional arts fall by the wayside because of so many new tools?  Making art within a group?  How does one find a voice in the cacophony of voices already singing?  Great video.  Enjoy. -M



The Future of Art from KS12 on Vimeo.

The Future of Art
an immediated autodocumentary

What are the defining aesthetics of art in the networked era? How is mass collaboration changing notions of ownership in art? How does micropatronage change the way artists produce and distribute artwork? The Future of Art begins a conversation on these topics and invites your participation.

This video was shot, edited and screened at the Transmediale festival 2011 in Berlin, Germany.

Conceived and Edited by Gabriel Shalom
Produced by KS12 / Emergence Collective
Executive Producer: Patrizia Kommerell
Assistant Editor: Clare Molloy
Production Assistant: Annika Bauer

Wednesday, February 9, 2011

An artless redefinition of adequate - NashuaTelegraph.com

CONCORD – It’s not every day you get a Grammy-nominated artist testifying against proposed legislation in the state capital. But when Goffstown singer-songwriter Judy Pancoast heard about a bill that would make music education optional in the state’s public schools, she wanted her voice to be heard.
Pancoast, nominated this year for her children’s album, told members of the House Education Committee on Tuesday that music was the only thing that saved her from a childhood filled with torment from other students because of her weight. Thanks to the support of a music teacher, she gained the confidence to sing a solo in the spring concert, sparking her career in music.
“To me, music was not just a core curriculum subject; it was the core curriculum subject,” Pancoast said.
Pancoast was one of dozens of education leaders, current and former teachers, and arts advocates who expressed fierce opposition to a local state representative’s proposal to strip subjects such as art, world languages and technology from the state’s definition of an adequate education.
About 150 people turned out for the Education Committee’s hearing on HB39, sponsored by Rep. Ralph Boehm, R-Litchfield. The crowd was so large that committee Chairman Rep. Michael Balboni had to move the hearing midway in, from a small meeting room in the Legislative Office Building to Representatives Hall in the Statehouse. Before it was moved to the larger room, people were sitting on the floor and a long line of those hoping to get in wrapped through the hallway.
The bill, filed earlier this month, would strike arts, world languages, health, technology education and information and communication technologies from the list of subjects defined as an adequate education by the state. That would leave English language arts, math, science, social studies and physical education as the only state-mandated subjects. The state established the current definition of an adequate education in 2008.
While recognizing the value of the subjects he proposes to remove, Boehm, vice chairman of the Education Committee, said the total cost goes beyond what the state is providing in funding. Keeping them in the definition would continue to force unfunded mandates upon local school districts, he said.
“The state pays $3,430 or so per student for a so-called adequate education. But we all know that the school districts’ cost per student is more than $10,000,” Boehm said. “It looks like this was another downshifting from the state.”
Boehm said his legislation intends to be more realistic about what the state is actually paying. If local taxpayers are going to pick up the tab for additional subjects, they should get to decide what is taught, he said.
In a conference call Tuesday, House Democratic Leader Terie Norelli blasted Boehm’s proposal. She argued an education without critical subjects such as art and world languages is anything but adequate. Removing them would downshift millions of dollars to local taxpayers and would undoubtedly send the education debate back to court, she said.
“This irresponsible legislation would tear at the fabric of what makes our education system the envy of other states in the nation,” Norelli said. “If these subject matters are not part of an adequate education, then the next generation and our generation will suffer greatly.”
At Tuesday’s hearing, speakers railed against the proposal, arguing that lifting the requirement to teach critical subjects would give local school boards the opportunity to remove them from the curriculum, putting students in those communities at a disadvantage. Boehm stayed to listen for part of the testimony, smiling while opponents spoke.
Representatives from many of the state’s education associations and organizations spoke out against the bill. Mark Joyce, executive director of the New Hampshire School Administrators Association, said while it’s clear the cost of teaching all subjects included in the definition exceeds the state’s contribution, simply eliminating them does not solve the problem.
“While we respect the notion of resisting unfunded mandates, we support the continued inclusion of art, music, technology and world languages as essential basics that compose the foundation of adequacy,” Joyce said.
Dean Mitchner, director of governmental affairs for the New Hampshire School Boards Association, also testified against the bill, as did Rick Trombley, director of public affairs for the New Hampshire National Education Association. Trombley pointed out that Republican leadership has recognized arts as an essential part of an education.
“The education of our future professionals begins somewhere, and that’s in the classroom,” Trombley said. “We run a tragic risk if the only thing we understand is the cost of some things, but the value of nothing.”
Maryanne Irish, president of the New Hampshire Music Educators Association, said while the legislation doesn’t prohibit schools from teaching the arts, removing them from the list of mandated subjects “would make the reduction of arts an easy and quick fix” for school boards looking for places to cut back.
“It makes education the scapegoat for a larger financial problem,” Irish said. “It is a wrong and disproportionate response.”
Applause broke out several times after speakers argued against the bill. Several times at the hearing, Balboni had to ask the audience to hold its applause.
Boehm’s bill would also require the Legislature to approve the state’s adoption of the Common Core Standards. Last year, the state Board of Education approved adopting the set of national standards in principle, but Boehm argues the board did not have the authority. Full implementation of the new standards is not expected for several years.
Kathleen Murphy, director of the division of instruction for the state Department of Education, said adopting the new standards would be in the best interest of New Hampshire students and teachers. Murphy said the department does not have a position about Boehm’s proposal on subjects included in an adequate education.
No action was taken by the committee Tuesday. Because of the financial implications about state funding of adequate education, the House needs an initial vote on the legislation by Feb. 17. That would mean the committee needs its recommendation by Feb. 10 at the latest. It would also need Senate approval, as well as the support of Gov. John Lynch.
Michael Brindley can be reached at 594-6426 or mbrindley@nashuatelegraph.com.