January 6, 2021 As I wrote in my 'end of the year' letter, during this tumultuous year of political turmoil, erratic weather patterns and a pandemic, I did have 3 wonderful events occurr. First was the birth of my second grandchild, Beatrix Clementine. The second was that my neighbors logged their property giving me a spectacular view of Mt. Monadnock. I was given a view of the entire ridgeline with Monadnock in the center. It's spell binding to watch the weather roll in and the colors change hourly on the mountain. And third was that the past years of traveling and residencies and workshops all seem to come together this summer. Though I am unable to go to FL I would have chosen not to as I need to be in my nothern studio where I have more materials and more space to work. Due to COVID, many good teachers from far and wide are posting their videos on Youtube. I have come across some wonderfully gifted painters which have added to my painting abilities. Combined with what I have already learned, I felt I made some giant strides.I returned to the stone theme with new techniques. I surrounded the 3 dimensional stone with my color fields. Slowly, building up layers of CWM and oils, I have acheived satisfying effects. The stones I place in recessed boxes. I am not sure what all the meanings are of the box. Is it a safe haven? Is the stone hiding? Is it a symbol of my aloneness? I leave that to the individual viewer.

These two, 14 x 14 inch pieces, are CWM and oils on panel. Stone inserted in the surface. They are titled Silent Sentinel One and Two.

"Abondoned stones which I became interested in invite me to enter into their life’s purpose. It is my task to define and make visible the intent of their being." Isamu Noguchi I continue in Noguchi’s path and have for many years. I think I have finally settled into painting of stones using the simplest of colors and relinquishing the need to draw the shapes of stones. Rather, focusing on the surfaces of the stones. Since I am partial to the granite pillars, I am going to construct six by two feet panels on which I will apply the simplest of colors and focus on textures. I am also inspired t o attempt this simplicity by Jerry McGlauglin however his panels are mostly black which is too bleak for my message. My granite colored pillars remind me of my “Stillpoint” series. If there is to be any color, it will mostly be the moss green representing the lichen that often grows on stones. I am using sand I brought home from FL, ash from my wood pellet stove, dry pigments and oils and CWM. My first attempt at this simplicity included a panel that has a small insert in which I will place an oval stone. Much like the painting I completed in 2002 titled "Genesis".

Genesis "GENESIS" was completed in 2002. It is oils on a panel 44x32 inches. Inserted is a small metal box in which I placed a small white stone. It was the first of my attempts during the years to show a hole inside a larger plane with something residing in it. Nineteen years later I find myself returning to my theme of stones. I have studied methods of using cold wax medium with the oil which allows one to build up layers quicker and add texture. Having majored in sculpture I suppose the textures appeal to me.

These stones are often egg like in shape. The title Genesis can apply to both stones and eggs. When on Easterly beach in Ireland, I was mesmorized by the many shapes of fossils throughout the stones on the beach. They were everywhere with algae adding the only colour on the black and white stones. The earlier works were based on colour fields. The more recent pieces focus on organic shapes including inserts within the shapes. I think Charles Simic's poem sums it up for me: “Go inside a stone. That would be my way. Let somebody else become a dove Or gnash with a tiger’s tooth I am happy to be a stone. I do not know what my love of stones means for me or for the world. In part, I respond to them because they were one of the first available surfaces which man was able to write their developing alphabets and bourgeoining words; the future way to communicate and record history. The enclosed fossils record the physical history of the organic earth.

The smaller dark stone was completed in 2020 and will be on display at the annual Monadnock Art Tour. It's 12x12 inches on panel, oils and cold wax on panel.

Readying the studio for 2019 Dublin/Monadnock Art Tour.

The Monadnock Art/Friends of the Dubllin Art Colony 24th art tour is over the Columbus Day weekend. I will not participate on the third day but rather start my journey to Italy for a 3 week residency. As always, I start feeling trepidation about upcoming trips. I did the same when I flew to Ireland to study with Rebecca Crowell. Several things are contributing to my reservations. I learned that most of the students will be finished and returned to USA. Next I found out that the village comprises of 90 inhabitants! But I have since learned that Eros, the manager, speaks good English and I do still have someone to cook all my meals. I am getting to know Nora who summers in Harrisville and the rest of the year lives in Sutri....not far from where I will be. And then my sister Rue had to cancel meeting up with me in Rome so I started to feel like the trip was cursed. Turns out son Clement has friends in Rome who he met when he was at the Rome Academy. And I know of one other person who will be there. I will just have to wing it and see how things fall. A neighbor visited the other night. She told me she knew of Montecastello and ICARTS and had been there with Nick Carone when he started the school. I was stunned to hear the name as I once talked with him on the phone about 10 years ago. I do not recall how I heard of him but he was a friend of my father Clement Pollock. I am currently reading the book '9th Street Women' about the beginning of the abstract expressionist period that began in the early 1900's after WW II. My father was in the village as was Nick Carone and all the heavy hitters like J pollock, Frankenthaler, Hans Hoffman, etc. What an exciting era to have been part of. I wish I had known of this when I would have my rare visits with my father usually in the Village. 9th Street Women has given me more courage to pursue my own path of combining sculpture and painting in a large format. While on this residency, I will have to work on paper and rather small but that ended up fine in Ireland.

End Of Summer I just had a delightful lunch with Steve Freitch. He and his family spend part of the summer in my old friend Edie's farm house. Edie had to sell it after many years of living there and writing copious books about life in the country and living in the old farmhouse called Mary's Farm. She also wrote for years for Yankee Magazine. Steve and I met several years ago at a Waldorf Music event at an old estate in Dublin. Steve and I connect through the love of the arts. He has been a practicing artist. He and Nancy live in Baltimore where he worked for years for an artist of some repute. Hence he gave up pursuing his own art though he is in the process of building a studio at the farm house. Now retired, he deals in other peoples' art making gobs of money. It was a great time over lunch. We talked art the entire time. That's so refreshing for me as I truly have so little of that around here. He seemed excited to see where my work had recently gone with the VL Series. While looking at the one with the Frozen Charlottes, he suggested turning the porcelain dolls around so they are facing away from the viewer. Bingo. It took the piece to a whole other level. Secretive and mysterious. I felt the same excitement as I did when I implanted the empty black box into the panel instead of another antique box. Much more evocative. I think Steve was so right that turning the dolls around made the piece so much less obvious. It makes one wonder what the piece is saying about people. Are they just representing the spirits of the people who lived in the landscapes long ago? Are they unable to communicate because they are long gone. Just reminders of who they were?

Summertime

Spring just flew by. I can barely remember it it seems so long ago. We had a tremendous amount of rain so there was little chance to garden. This week, the first week of August, I did my first gardening but it was mostly comprised of weeding. No vegetables as the deer eat them just as they are ready to harvest. Plus my Hostas just as they are about to bloom.
It has been a wonderful summer filled with long hours and days in the studio. I have nearly finished 6 pieces in the Vanishing Landscape Series. The 2 last ones are more white than the previous ones which are more of the Renaissance palette.  The subject matter is more about the stones and stone pillars of New England and other parts of the world that I love. LD and I spent hours creating a video about my process of painting and constructing paintings. My first video posted on YouTube.

I have almost finished the book, Chalk. A biography about Cy Twombly. His bravery to paint whatever he chose has been inspiring for me.The same with the Agnes Martin book I finished previously. Both artists absolutely followed their own path often with disdain from others. Their stories have encouraged me to return to the Vanishing Landscape paintings, drilling holes, inserting boxes along with spontaneous landscapes. Having finally separated myself from the chains of gold....the desire to sell...I am freed up to paint from the heart.  I always do my best work then.  Case in point....I sold the piece that got juried into the FAM Annual show in Fitchburg, MA. Very curious who purchased it.

Vanishing Landscape X, 60x48 inches

Oils, CWM, antique box inserted into panel.

Empty Boxes 2019

It's the end of May and cold, wet and dreary. Even the cat returned early from his morning border patrol duty of the property. Now he is lying in front of the fire cleaning the twigs and leaves from his wet fur. I retrieved my winter fur lined boots from the closet in order to warm up my feet. I felt it was a good day to stay out of the studio and let things 'gel' as I like to call it. I have so many large works in process that I can barely fit into the room. Hopefully some will go out soon to juried shows and then I can start two more even larger pieces. I guess reading the Agnes Martin Biography this winter had a large impact on me. After she abandoned NYC at the height of her career in the 60's and went to NM to live a solitary life on top of a mesa, she proceeded to rework canvases for several years.
When I returned from FL this spring, I went into the basement where I have my 'graveyard' of old paintings, and retrieved 5 half finished large panels. Using all the techniques I learned over the past few years studying with RC and LB, I proceeded to launch into the panels. Basically they were all part of my long ago series called 'Vanishing Landscapes'. Some of the panels were 16 years old. But now I have about 5 of them finished though I feel I could work on them forever. I think I  am finished  with one but then I seem to go further on the next one so the one before does not seem complete. After I finally do finish these 5, I will take the large painting off the wall of the living room and tear into that diptych which will become 2 separate paintings. I continue to use the old hardware and some collage of music and poetry.
One of the best advancements I feel I made was to remove all the objects that I had inserted in the boxes attached to the panels. They now remain empty, floating in the abstract landscape adding a haunting feeling to the works. Both of these are 60 x 42 inches.