Uncovering a Treasure Trove

October 8, 2016 – Uncovering a Treasure Trove

Look what we discovered in the crawl space under the stairs!  Maps to buried treasure?  No, even better – rolled up paintings by Elliott Thompson.   

Six unstretched paintings from the HVD series

These six canvases were painted in the 1970s and were never even put on stretchers.  Hidden away for decades, they’re in pristine condition.  We discovered them when I was hauling four of Elliott’s very large paintings out of the crawl space.  These large paintings had been taken off their stretchers and rolled up prior to our move to France over 30 years ago.  We haven't unrolled any of the paintings yet.  The big reveal is scheduled for next Monday.

So the painting inventory continues to grow.  And the excitement of unearthing these works has re-energized Elliott.  He’s a working artist once again, which makes him a much happier person (as well as a much easier person to live with) despite having some new pains. 

On Tuesday morning, Elliott admitted that he’d been having pains in his back and chest for a few days.  He feared the worst, i.e. a heart attack, which in turn triggered an anxiety attack.  However, we were able to get in to see his doctor that morning and were reassured that his heart was fine.  As his doctor expected, X-rays showed that cause of Elliott’s pain was a compression fracture in his spine.  It will heal in 4-6 weeks and it hasn’t kept him from spending time in the studio, working on his designs and pouring over old correspondence, notes, and exhibition catalogues.     

Last night, we shared a celebratory dinner at Silver Diner.  Elliott got his usual sugar high from a big serving of waffles doused in maple syrup and a super-sized strawberry milkshake.  I allowed myself a sip of the milkshake and a bite of syrup-drenched waffle.  Of course, that’s not all I ate.  I had a bison burger with arugula, cremini mushrooms, and tomatoes, with a side of steamed vegetables.  According to my most recent blood tests, my blood sugar level and A1C remain stable and I’m trying to keep them from creeping up into dangerous territory.  Remembering how my diabetes destroyed my father’s health and quality of life is incentive enough for me.  

On the Sylvie front, my 12-week old granddaughter is already a bibliophile.  She favors Eric Carle’s The Very Hungry Caterpillar and a board book of Matisse cutouts called Dance for Joy.  Mom Elisa is doing a great job of introducing Sylvie to the joys of reading.   

photo by Elisa

I’m keeping busy with the usual activities.  Classes at GMU are going well.  In my jazz class, we’re learning about different swing bands from the 30s and in art history, we’re learning about Post-Painterly Abstraction, as seen in the works of Helen Frankenthaler, Morris Louis, Kenneth Noland, and Jules Olitski. 

With the cooler weather, I’m spending more time in the kitchen.  I cooked up a big batch of butternut squash soup a couple of days ago.  Over the years, I’ve tried so many different recipes for squash soup that are all delicious.  This version includes corn, black beans, cumin, red peppers, and cilantro.  It’s great with an avocado and tomato salad, and some sweet potato tortilla chips (Trader Joe’s) with Fall Harvest Salsa (also Trader Joe’s).  There's pumpkin in the salsa - yum! 

Great flavors for the season - from Trader Joe's

Finally, I’m working at least once a week at the Workhouse glass studio and getting ready for this season’s Mantua Made Market, where I’ll be selling fused glass once again.  Put a note on your calendar for Saturday, November 7 from 10 am until 2 pm.  

Why can't I rotate this photo 90 degrees?

September Report

September Report – September 28, 2015

When I first retired from teaching and started my blog, I used to post on a daily basis.  Over time, daily posts gave way to weekly posts.  And now I’ve found that the frequency of my posts has tapered off even further – a result, no doubt, of a schedule that’s busier than ever.  So as the current month draws to a close, I’ll update you on September chez nous. 

Visitors!

The most memorable event was the highly anticipated visit of Elisa, Christian, and Sylvie.  At the tender age of two months, Mademoiselle Sylvie made her debut into Virginia society with style, poise, and characteristic charm (no doubt inherited from her completely unbiased grandmother).   

Miss Sylvie getting to know GrandDaddy

Great-Grandma Katie meeting Sylvie

For three and half glorious and exhausting days and nights, life revolved around the baby.  We welcomed a steady stream of neighbors, friends, and family members who came to meet her.  We vied to hold her and play with her.  In the mornings, we attempted to elicit smiles and in the evenings, we attempted to console her during her screaming episodes.  It’s funny how someone who weighs barely ten pounds can take control of a household.  Of course, we all loved it!  And for Elliott, who was seeing his new granddaughter for the first time, the experience was very moving. 

The Cheslaks weren’t the only guests at the Thompson B&B in September.  Just prior to their visit, two of Elliott’s adult granddaughters from Texas came to stay with us for a few days.  We kept them busy with a variety of activities, including dinner at our favorite Afghan restaurant (Mazadar) and a wine-tasting and picnic lunch at Molon Lave Vineyards in the beautiful Virginia countryside.  

Dana and Erin at Molon Lave Vineyards

Adventures in AbEx Land

As for my academic pursuits, I’m finding that my art history class is giving my brain quite a workout.  My fabulous prof has given us a quick rundown on academic art, which held sway for centuries, followed by challenges to academic art in the 19^th century resulting in Modernism, and then completely new developments in the art world, starting with Abstract Expressionism in the period following World War II.  In order to understand AbEx (as it’s affectionately known), we’re reading and discussing articles by two major art critics.  Harold Rosenberg describes AbEx as “Action Painting.”  From an existentialist viewpoint, he sees the artist searching for meaning.  The process of creating the image is more important than the image itself.  He describes the never-ending dialectic of the painting process whereby the artist puts a stroke of paint on the canvas, then struggles to respond to the resulting image, which leads to another stroke of paint, and so on. If you take a look at a Jackson Pollock painting, you’ll get an idea of what Rosenberg is talking about. 

Another critic, Clement Greenberg, offers a formalist view of AbEx.  He espouses the idea of “pure painting.”  Unlike Rosenberg, Greenberg states that the value of the painting is in the image.  He stresses that the artist must embrace the unique characteristics of painting as a medium – its 2 dimensionality, its flat and defined plane.  In other words, the goal of painting is not to create an illusion of three dimensionality.  That’s the goal of sculpture.  And as far as content is concerned, the function of painting is not to tell a story, since narrative belongs to the domain of literature.  Mark Rothko was one of the artists that Greenberg admired.  Not to be outdone by Rosenberg, Greenberg also refers to a dialectic.  In this case, the dialectic is the artist doing something new (the avant-garde) as he strives to approach pure painting, which leads to a reaction from other painters, creating a new avant-garde as they try to advance the quest for pure painting.   

So, take your pick - Existentialism or Formalism.  Having fun yet? 

Artists at Work

The 6-week break between the summer and fall sessions at Workhouse Arts Center turned out to be a real test of endurance.  I did some half-hearted design work at home, but I was seething with impatience to get started on new fused glass projects that I’ve been carrying around in my head since mid-summer.  Fortunately, I had my first class of the fall session yesterday.  Many familiar faces were back.  And Matt is the instructor’s teaching assistant. 

Elliott has been busy working on his own art recently.  Most days, he spends at least a couple of hours in the downstairs studio.  He has worked up some designs and is eager to start painting.  Today, we spent a couple of hours shopping for canvases, paint, and related supplies.  I attribute this renewed interest in painting to (1) the stronger dosage of his pain medication, and (2) working with me on the painting inventory.  He’s quite pleased with website I created.  It contains some biographical information and images of his earlier work.  If you’re interested, you can take a look at the Elliott Thompson Art website.  

Taking a break and enjoying the fall weather

My September Problem

T.S. Eliot wrote, “April is the cruelest month.”  I disagree.  In my opinion, September is the cruelest month.  It seems that every September, as I gear up for the new schedule of activities (classes, house guests, etc.), I also start to sense a creeping dread invading my psyche.  It becomes a constant struggle to keep the dread contained.  If I’m not vigilant, it will jump out of its box and strangle me.  The image that has been swimming in my brain, perhaps from a dream, for the past few weeks – I’m swimming in the ocean, amid the waves but close to shore, when I suddenly realize the force of the undercurrent is drawing me further and further out and I fear that I’ll never touch down on land again.  Terror!

I’m convinced that it’s tied to the change of seasons at this particular time of year.  It isn’t so much the cold that I fear, but the shortened hours of daylight.  I hate getting up before sunrise, even though I woke up at 5:00 a.m. during all those years I was teaching.  Actually, once I got out of bed and turned on lots of lights, I was absolutely fine.  But peering into the morning darkness from the cocoon of my bed is a cruel way to start the day.  Maybe I’ll have to trick my brain by installing one of those programmable lights in the bedroom that gradually illuminates the room to mimic sunrise. 

So now we’ve passed the autumn equinox and we’re in the worst period.  The knowledge that we’re on a downward trend regarding amount of daylight compounds the anxiety I feel.  How many days until the shortest day of the year, when we start to add minutes of daylight again?  

Big Excitement!

September 6, 2015 – Big Excitement!

We’ve had some exciting days, and one exciting night.  Let’s start with the nighttime excitement:  It was the middle of last week.  The night was quiet and calm – no rain, no wind, not even a gentle breeze.  Elliott had already gone to bed and I was sitting in the living room, reading.  Out of nowhere came a series of gigantic crashes at the back of the house.  I ran to the family room, looked out into the darkness and saw leaves and branches pressed right up against the windows.  Immediately, I went onto the deck to investigate.  It looked like a tree had fallen over, which seemed bizarre, given the absence of windy or rainy conditions.  When I went out into the yard with a flashlight, I discovered that an enormous limb had broken off the tallest of our towering oaks.  Fortunately, the structure of the house seemed to be intact.  The only real damage was minor, i.e. a couple of torn window screens.  What a relief!   

And now for the rest of the exciting recent happenings:

  

For Elliott, the excitement was finding a solution to his pain problem.  As I’ve mentioned before, this summer had been a difficult time for him due to nearly constant pain that was increasing in severity.  It impacted his quality of life and his outlook had become very negative.  Elliott’s doctor was hesitant to increase the strength of his pain medication because of possible side effects.  But we were desperate to give him some relief and I urged Elliott to make another appointment.  Finally, last Friday, we convinced the doctor to prescribe a stronger dosage of Elliott’s pain med on a two-week trial basis.  And, guess what?  It worked!  Elliott noticed an immediate and drastic reduction in his pain, and I’m thrilled to report that the old cheerful Elliott is back in action.  We’re being vigilant about watching for side effects, but all seems fine for now. 

As for me, although I’m retired from my teaching job, the academic calendar still structures my life to a large extent.  There’s something about the beginning of a new school year that signals new beginnings in general.  Every year, by mid-August, my excitement level starts rising.  I’m eager to see my teaching colleagues (both those still working and those who have retired).  When we’re together, we talk about the new problems teachers are facing (which sound a lot like the old problems I faced) and we reminisce about past dramas and comedies that played out in the classroom and with the administration.  Lunch this past week with my AHS ESOL pals reminded me that some things never change.  Do I miss teaching?  Less and less each year.  However, I’ve already put one sub day on the calendar for early October. 

My focus now is on being a student, and the fall semester at George Mason University is already underway.  I registered for three classes, but will only be able to find time to attend two of them: Contemporary Art and Jazz.  In the art history class, we spent most of our class time last week in thought-provoking discussions, trying to decide what contemporary art is.  I look forward to doing lots of viewing and reading as we tackle this hard-to-define topic.  I’m especially excited about the jazz class, which is taught by Darden Purcell, a noted jazz vocalist.  I like jazz (at least, I like some jazz), but I freely confess my ignorance about the subject.  Fortunately, I have five years of serious classical piano study in my background to help me understand some of the music theory.  Now, through lectures, reading, and listening, I’m learning about blue notes, chord progressions, and the role of improvisation.  I am totally in awe of musicians who can sit down with an instrument and improvise.  My goal is to be able to do a little improvisation myself by the time the semester ends!

The major excitement in our lives comes from our little granddaughter.  For Sylvie, every single day is full of discoveries and new experiences.  It’s amazing how she’s grown and developed in the past seven and a half weeks.  I am so grateful to Elisa and Christian for sharing Sylvie’s world through their wonderful blog, The Big Adventures of Little Sylvie.  We look forward to introducing Sylvie to Grandpa Elliott in person very soon.  

Elliott looking at a recent Sylvie photo

House Party

August 31, 2015 – House Party

Last Thursday, I set out for a few days in New York, to give Elliott a little break from my constant ministrations.  And sure enough, as soon as I left, what did Elliott do?  He hosted a multi-day house party! 

Yes, that very afternoon, three very special friends from out of town showed up to party with Elliott during my absence.  A big thank you to Joel, Taylor, and Karen for being such good company.  And special thanks to Karen for making sure the boys behaved.  

Taylor, Elliott and Joel

As you can probably guess, the real reason for my trip was to see my darling new granddaughter again.  Since my son-in-law’s paternity leave ended last Wednesday, Elisa was adjusting to her new role as Miss Sylvie’s sole care provider during the day.  Although she’s gained a few pounds since her birth in mid-July, Sylvie is still quite portable, and we put her high-tech stroller to good use during my visit.  One important outing was Sylvie’s first trip to Trader Joe’s.  Elisa immediately discovered the challenge of doing grocery shopping with Sylvie in tow – it’s not possible to push a shopping cart while pushing a stroller.  The stroller has to serve dual purposes.  The space underneath the baby seat was soon filled to overflowing with grocery items.  Then, at the check out, she had to reach down and pull out all the items without blocking other shoppers.  This is not as easy as you might think since the Brooklyn store is always extremely crowded.  Once everything had been placed in a couple of shopping bags, another challenge presented itself.  You can’t carry bags in both hands while pushing a stroller.  Fortunately, I provided an extra pair of hands.  Miss Sylvie and the groceries arrived home safely.  Later that day, Elisa went online and ordered a set of hooks that fit onto the stroller handle.  I hope that solves the transport problem.  

Miss Sylvie, ready for her trip to Trader Joe's

Elisa and Sylvie in Trader Joe's

Speaking of new experiences, I had my first experience as Grandma the Babysitter.  I thought it would be nice to give Elisa and Christian a chance to go out to dinner by themselves and they readily took me up on my offer.  While they went into “the city” for dinner at a restaurant in Chelsea, Miss Sylvie and I shared an evening that had its ups and downs.  On the up side, I was successful in giving her a bottle.  I also changed her clothes – after I spilled milk all over her during the first attempt at feeding.  She howled!  Even after I fed her, however, she didn’t really settle down.  Episodes of non-stop crying lasted for several minutes, despite my efforts to soothe her.  Then her eyes would close and she’d sleep quietly in my arms, at least until I attempted to put her down, at which point the screams would begin again and the cycle repeated itself.  As a result, I forgot completely about eating dinner.  I hardly ever watch football, but the television was on and a pre-season football game kept me from going crazy until Elisa and Christian came back and rescued me.  We all survived, and I’m sure the pleasure Elisa and Christian got from their date night far outweighed any temporary unhappiness Sylvie may have experienced. 

Grandma Robin and Miss Sylvie

Elisa and Miss Sylvie, enjoying a Thai lunch

All dressed up, and ready for visitors on Saturday

But most of the time, Sylvie is no problem at all.  She was quite content while Elisa and I sat outside and ate lunch at a Thai restaurant on Court Street.  And she was a perfect little lady when my brother and sister-in-law came down from Westchester for brunch on Saturday.  Saying goodbye to Elisa, Christian, and sweet Sylvie gets harder and harder.  If only I could shrink the distance between Fairfax and Brooklyn!

My Summer Restaurant Week

August 21, 2015 – My Summer Restaurant Week

I just wrapped up a week of good eating, prompted by Washington Summer Restaurant Week.  Of the three restaurants I tried, only one was officially participating in Restaurant Week.  That was Jaleo, the Spanish restaurant on Seventh Street in DC.  I usually try unfamiliar restaurants during Restaurant Week, but Jaleo is a long-time favorite of mine and I wanted to introduce my friend Cheri to its glorious array of tapas.  We got off to a spectacular start with the bread and olive oil – the bread so crusty, so olive oil so fragrant – that we asked for seconds.  Counting carbs was forbidden at this meal.  Among the tapas we chose, the Catalan white bean salad and the shrimp with garlic and smoked paprika were standouts.  I didn’t hesitate when it came to dessert.  Jaleo makes one of the best flans I’ve ever tasted, subtly flavored with orange peel and vanilla beans.  

I got drunk on that olive oil!

Catalan white bean salad; Endive, orange and goat cheese

Shrimp with garlic and smoked paprika

Two different kinds of flan

Elliott was my dining partner at the beginning of the week.  We enjoyed an excellent lunch at Mazadar, an Afghan restaurant in the unlikeliest of locations.  Once you step through the doorway, you forget that you’re in a strip mall in suburban Virginia.  The calming décor, a seamless blend of the traditional (abundant tile, splashing fountain) and the modern, creates a sense of escape from the outside world.  The restaurant prides itself on using the highest quality ingredients and preparing everything from scratch, including the tangy yogurt.  I wasn’t sure how Elliott would like the food, but our meal got off to a great start.  For our shared appetizer, I ordered something he would recognize, i.e. falafel.  The chickpea fritters were crispy on the outside and wondrously light inside.  Elliott approved, and showed real enthusiasm as he tore off pieces of piping hot naan to scoop up the accompanying hummus. 

The staff at Mazadar is very attentive and eager to make helpful suggestions.  When Elliott found that he had trouble chewing his grilled lamb kebab, our server volunteered to bring out a complimentary dish of meltingly tender braised lamb shanks for him.  While the menu favors meat dishes, there are also satisfying choices for veggie-lovers.  I ordered a platter consisting of three separate vegetable dishes – eggplant, spinach, and squash – served alongside by a heaping mound of basmati rice adorned with sweetened carrot strips and raisins, and seasoned with cardamom.  Each dish had distinctive and delicious flavors.  The only downside to eating at Mazadar was the couple of extra pounds that the scale showed the following morning.  

The lovely décor at Mazadar

Elliott with his lamb kebab

Wonderful vegetables at Mazadar

I invited Matt to help me wrap up my week of gustatory indulgence.  Since he’s a pizza lover, we headed over to the Clarendon area in Arlington for Pete’s New Haven StyleAPizza.  My two slices (white clam and veggie) and antipasto salad were more than filling, but I was determined to make room for ice cream at the nearby Nicecream Factory.  I was intrigued by an article in The Washington Post that described the Nicecream Factory’s method of making ice cream by freezing it with liquid nitrogen right before the customers’ eyes.  It sounded like fun, and it turned out to be delicious.  I was impressed when Matt, who wasn’t an adventurous eater as a child, ordered a sundae made with strawberry-basil ice cream.  I was delighted with a simple scoop of August’s flavor of the month, peachy keen.  

New Haven style pizza at Pete's

Making ice cream at the Nicecream Factory

Matt's strawberry-basil sundae

Eating out was great, but eating at home this past week wasn’t too bad either.  All the wonderful summer produce from the Fairfax Farmers’ Market made it easy.   

A Portrait of the Artist as a Not So Young Man

August 19, 2015 – A Portrait of the Artist as a Not-So-Young Man

The Elliott Art Legacy Project continues.  Next on the schedule – photo ops for the dozen or so paintings that are currently on display in the house.  This involves taking them off the walls, bringing them downstairs to photograph, and then rehanging them.  At least we won’t have to unwrap and re-wrap them, so the work should go relatively quickly. 

The process of examining the paintings one by one has rekindled Elliott’s latent creativity.  After being suppressed for so long, his inner artist is about to be released.  He’s been pouring over drawings, correspondence, receipts, teaching notes, exhibition brochures – anything related to his career as an artist.  He’s most interested in the sketches he made five or six years ago for a new series of paintings.  At that point, his vision had already deteriorated so much that he was unable to transfer the ideas to canvas.  But he’s now mentioning the possibility of working with an assistant to produce paintings under his direction. 

In case you’re not familiar with Elliott’s artistic output, he is best known for the geometric abstract paintings he produced from the late 1960s through the early 1980s.  His approach is very analytical and mathematical, and it’s fascinating to hear him explain the patterns in his paintings.  However, while going through Elliott’s papers, we rediscovered some interesting works on paper from an earlier period that are in a totally different style.  These are ink drawings, both still life and landscape, that show a Cubist influence.  Elliott did these works while living in France in the mid-1950s.  Somehow, he managed to study at an art academy at the same time he was working for the U.S. government in Paris.  

It’s deeply satisfying to see Elliott showing passion again about something that played such an important role in his life.  I can’t imagine the frustration he felt for the past couple of decades – an artist whose mind is filled with images that he can’t express in his chosen medium.  Now that he’s ready to resume work on his art, I’ve readily agreed to share my studio space with him.  

Elliott, busy at work in our shared studio

Since Marshall is nearly finished photographing Elliott’s work, I’ve asked him to take on a new project, i.e. photographing all of my fused glass pieces.  Speaking of which, a new post featuring my work from this summer is coming soon. 

Home Work

August 14, 2015 – Home Work

A temporary halt in travel has allowed me to get a lot of work done at home.  One of the most ambitious projects is producing an annotated photo inventory of Elliott’s artistic output, at least those paintings currently stored in our house.  (There are several works in private and museum collections that won’t be included.)  Over the years, we’ve shipped dozens of his paintings back and forth across the Atlantic.  They’ve been wrapped in heavy brown paper, wrapped in thick plastic sheeting, unwrapped, and re-wrapped on several occasions.  Since we can’t display all of them in our home, the majority of the canvases have remained in storage, under conditions that range from ideal, i.e. temperature-controlled facilities, to the decidedly less than ideal.  In fact, we found that moisture had irreparably damaged a number of paintings a few years ago, and Elliott chose to destroy them.  It was a sad, sad day when he sliced the canvas off the stretchers.  

While I expected it to be a time consuming project, I didn’t realize how physically demanding it would be.  Most of the paintings are quite large and the wooden stretchers, which Elliott built himself, are extremely heavy.  It takes two people to handle the labor.  Marshall and I have to haul the paintings from various locations around the house to my studio, where we unwrap, measure, set up for photos, record information for our spreadsheet, discard old paper wrappings, rewrap in plastic, label and finally move them to a new downstairs storage location.  Marshall is in charge of photography and photo editing and I’m in charge of updating the spreadsheet. 

Of course, even though Elliott can’t participate in the physical activities, he is very involved in this project.  Seated in his chair, Elliott provides Marshall and me with vigilant supervision and vocal direction, except when he dozes off.  I anticipate completing the inventory within the coming week.  However, this is just phase one of a much more comprehensive project, i.e. finding homes for all of his art.  Elliott has already contacted people in the arts world who may be interested in donations of his work, most of which was done from the late 1960s through the late 1970s. 

It was quite an experience seeing the paintings again after they’d been hidden from view for decades, and I’m hopeful that others will have an opportunity to enjoy them soon.  

Elliott explains the mathematical naming scheme for his paintings.  This is Two 28, one of his smaller works.