B is for bikes, barnacles, and bears
Pretty soon Marty and I will be married 25 years. How did we get here? I can honestly say the romance began on a motorcycle. Zooming around Marin County hills and feeling like it was Ireland. Fog, eucalyptus, and Dogtown, a heady mix back in 1987. There were many miles of touring California once we got married. Delivering illustration jobs to Fed Ex on Harrison Street in San Francisco made deadlines more fun, as seen here in Marty’s work: Then he surprised me with a gift certificate for a motorcycle safety class. At first I was slighted: you don’t like me as a passenger? Yet...
Read Moreart pop-ups
Art is popping up like peonies this week. I’m thrilled to be part of Maine College’s of Art’s Summer Art Sale, collect. We went to the preview Thursday night in their new space on Free Street in Portland. The infinitely lovely Annie Wadleigh greeted me with the news that my Heron Moon had sold to her neighbor. Sweet! MECA decided to forgo the 37 year tradition of an art auction in favor of a direct sale, where artists set their own prices. You can read more HERE. There was a TON of work, with bright orange tags that made it feel a bit like a sale at Hub Furniture, but art...
Read MoreCelebrating whales at Portland Public Library
Once upon a hot Saturday a very happy crowd dove into the ocean at the Portland Public Library in honor of Here Come the Humpbacks! According to Native American wisdom, a whale is like a swimming library, carrying the history of Mother Earth and knowing the memories of ancient knowledge. It was both striking and fitting to see Istar fill the Rines Auditorium, thanks to Children’s Museum & Theater of Maine. (All photos © Greta Rybus) This 15 foot inflatable humpback was crafted for the museum by George York and is 15 years old, modeled after a real whale (named Istar) who just...
Read Moremany moons ago
On Wednesday, as I was zooming down the highway to Boston, it occurred to me it’s been 25 years since I left. Driving around there with the radio tuned to WERS brings it all back. This is an illustration I did in the early 80’s, a call for art for Peter Wolf’s first solo album. I was so nervous when I met him. I never saw the art again, or him, but it still captures those nightclubbin’ years under a full moon. I met Nancy, my longest running client, at the Boston MFA. She publishes the Lunar Calendar, to which I’ve been a contributor since 1982. As we entered...
Read Morelegacies
With Memorial Day just passed, my thoughts are thrown back to another era. I visited my Uncle Roley last week, now living in an assisted living facility in New Hampshire. He asked me to help clear out his studio, over the garage, where I found objects and ephemera from a lifetime. Roland B. Hogan, Jr. followed in his father’s artistic footsteps, becoming a commercial artist in the early 50’s. He was the middle son, between my Aunt Eleanor and my father, William, the baby below. Roley has outlived them both by decades. I encountered sweet moments dismantling his keepsakes. To say...
Read MoreMECAF 5 roundup
Hats off once again to the wizards at Casablanca Comics for producing another stellar Maine Comics Arts Festival. With this, their Fifth Annual event, a packed house proved there’s a big appetite for this kind of brew. There was a robust line for Jeff Smith, who headlined the whole shebang. I was just as excited to see two of my students from Maine College of Art jumping into the mix. Miles Cooke and Declan McCarthy show off their latest here: In fact, MECA talents were in full force. Here’s alum Christina Siravo next to MECA faculty Michael Connor and his partner, Maria. Another...
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