Monday, February 27, 2017

crumbling plastic torn down - studio

On November 2016 while I was assembling collage materials in my studio, I noticed much of the clear plastic dangling from the ceiling, all ratty-looking. I would look into tearing it down at some future point.


History:  The shed was built by me after the closing of the Christian coffeehouse late in 1999. Some will remember the weekend rock bands and the 16 month run at That Phat Phish. Board member Curtis Fisher had built the stage. The stage was released into my care when the non-profit closed its doors. It was put on blocks and became the floor of my studio.


Hard rock Empire band members on Phat Phish flatbed, courthouse lawn, during summer of 1999, Carrollton, Missouri. Double click to enlarge.


Above, student Danielle Sullivan gets autograph from keyboardist of reggae band Temple Yard on Phat Phish stage, 1998.

Fatal Subconscious, punk band members from Kansas City, pose for photo, 1998
The stage came apart in two sections. These were rearranged, put on blocks and became the floor of my studio.


Plywood walls went up. Southern light plexiglas windows. A slanted corrugated tin roof with skylight.


I built-in overlapping flanges around the door that helped shut out the cold.


The entire inside walls and floor were covered with clear plastic.


A heated oil space heater hooked up from the house provided enough heat in the winter months.


Later on I experimented with large pieces of the solid pink insulation up against the corrugated tin roof. Cut to fit around the edges and rafters.


In 2000 when I began doing landscapes in acrylic I used the shed as a studio plenty. As I gained confidence over the years, I have painted and created outdoors as well.

The shed came in handy in January of 2016 when I needed an enclosed space to vanish my paintings. (Double click to enlarge images)



Three minutes.

In 2007 there was a period when I did art inside the house which had its own heat. First in the blue room (above) and another time the kitchenette area (below). The woodcut and printmaking was in the house.


You know, an art space is where ever you can find one. Push stuff aside and make a spot to do it.

That said, the shed space has also been used to store the lawn mower and pool equipment.


In December 2016 I took action and took down shelves and metal brackets. The dust mask was a must as I pulled off all the clear plastic. It crumbled in my hands. The way it disintegrates after a time. See before and after.


The solid insulation panels above were not staying up. Coming loose, falling down. I put down some ideas on paper. There would be more to do.



Thursday, February 23, 2017

H painting

It was over tea at his kitchen table that I heard about the H painting. Adam Griffith recalled the painting talk I gave once at the Carrollton Public Library. Some of the works were based on the One who loved me. He told me about a resurrected Christ surrounded by light.  But he really enjoyed the "H painting."



The letter H had a "hhhhh" sound. As in, hahhhh - lay - loo - yah. It made Griffith think of the wind sound coming out of his mouth. Like the breath of God. How God called things into existence by the sound of His breath, by the sound of His voice. Speaking into being. A state of releasing -- out of which substance and life and worship and praise came to be.


One minute close-up details of H painting. Video 2008.


I am happy to see this work continue to speak to those who view it. One lady after the library talk had told me it was foreign to her, at first. When she heard what lines of thought were part of its process she embraced it. She had an illness that the medical profession had no answers to. http://karl.marxhausen.net/core.l.html  Knowing that Genius wired neuro-science calmed her heart.

It was the particles on a wet sidewalk that set off this imagination. As I walked to work most mornings, I perceived atoms suspended in animation and vast galaxies held together by His intention, His idea, His expression.



While participants at the Art Talk questioned what the particulate material was - be it: fish tank gravel or worm casings or lentils or beans or spackle; I remember leaning over the work, carefully drizzling glue atop the crushed shell ridges and then dripping white house latex paint on the glue. Waiting - then seeing - the formation of incredible rivulet designs. These were my best moments.





Three minute video shot by Joe Tonnar Jr 2008. Participants were asked up to touch and give their best guess to what the materials were.


Adam Griffith and his acquisition.


The H now adorns his wall in De Witt, Missouri.




Monday, February 20, 2017

c - r


in this place of waiting
i look to you
for what you are about to bring me into

nerves on end   settle in the dust
      when you capture my attention

tuck me in your pocket
draw my whisper close
found in you, let me be found in you


your excitement fills my being


in a realm i cannot see
your voice takes my hand and calls me your bride


you keep bringing the words
every time
ask


moments of joy exuberance
days slowed down, all energy spent,
in this place of waiting
one thing sings gently behind my eyes
                                    behind my senses
                                    behind my intellect
                                    and desire:
what he starts in me he will finish


27 x 32 1/2 inches, marker on paper
C - R
February 20, 2017

Friday, February 17, 2017

diary award


Textile and Fabric division


43rd Annual Membership Exhibition
January 14 - February 19, 2017
Albrecht - Kemper Museum of Art
St.Joseph, Missouri
171 entries
71 members entered
Missouri, Kansas, and Iowa



http://karl-marxhausen.blogspot.com/2016/11/pods-pine-needles-twisted-metal-burlap.html
36 x 20 inches