Recent Unretouched Picture

Warning to Artists

Dear Fellow Artists:

I recently received an e-mail message from a person claiming to be John Nelson from South Africa. I want to warn you all not to deal with this person unless he agrees to pay for your work through Paypal or a trusted source. Do NOT AGREE TO ANY TRANSFERS INVOLVING WESTERN UNION. Also, be aware that checks can be forged and credit cards may have been stolen.

My Experience:

About a year ago, I received a similar message from a person claiming to be moving from the U.S. to London, England. He wrote me that he would send me a check for the art work which would be for several hundred dollars over the purchase price. The additional money was to be forwarded to his moving company to pay for shipping the paintings and other household items to London. I was supposed to deposit the check into my account and wire the excess funds to a coded account via Western Union. Luckily, I was suspicious and did not do this.

This scam works when the art buyer sends you a check, and your bank initially credits it to you account. The victim, thinking that the check has cleared, sends the agreed amount of overpayment to the Western Union account. Later, the bank learns that the check is bogus, but the artist, having sent money out of their own account, has been screwed out of several thousand dollars. My bank told me that deposited checks will be initially credited in two or three business days. I learned that actually, it could take over a week to clear a deposited check. I remember that my customer was very anxious that I deposit the check and wire the over payment as quickly as possible.

I hope that Mr. Nelson is sincere and an honest man. I am not accusing him of anything. I just wanted all of you to be aware of what can happen. Mr. Nelson had included your names along with mine when he sent his e-mail, and I thought it might be an excellent idea to contact you to make sure none of you are victimized. If you wish, you may pass this notice on to your friends.

Sincerely,

Joseph Lawrence
lawrence02biz@msn.com

Munch at MOMA

I better write out something about this show before I forget. I only have time for a few impressions, which follow:

The show seemed very extensive, all the famous works were there except "The Scream", but they had a similar work titled "Anxiety". Naturally, the paintings got most of the attention, but Munch had also done a huge amount of graphic work. It was interesting how he had worked on the same basic picture in different mediums. I was struck by how the figures and drawings seem done very quickly. There was no real attempt at a detailed, realistic, figure or landscape.

I ahve always liked Much because he is concerned with creating a psychological mood of tention. I thought his late works were especially good. He could give you a feeling of melancholy within an ordinary seeming picture. The other thing I like about Munch is that his feelings and opinions about life always come through in his work.

Regarding my own work, I have been concentrating on doing some more pastels. I am exploring working with the figure again and doing some experiments with color and different papers. Still very interested in power relationships and creating a suggestion of a narrative.

Hope some one reads this little missive and has someting interesting to say. Quoting the old Frank Zappa song, "Please, here my plea!" (Think that comes from the "Uncle Meat" album.)

Coming Soon: Trip to Barnes Foundation

Dear Readers,

I am planning to write soon about my trip to the Barnes Foundation in Pennsylvania. I am going to try to get started in the next couple of days. There is a lot to think about, and I will try to write up a fairly accomplished essay.

Joseph

My photo

Joan Didion Reading - Oct. 10, 2005

Tonight, I went to a reading down at B&N on 14th Street to hear Joan Didion. She has inspired me to write in my blog again. The woman who introduced her mentioned that she had been a person who kept notebooks. She said that it was an obcession of good writers -- probably inborn. That got me thinking about my blog again.

The reading at the bookstore was packed with people. There must have been close to two hundred people there and and dozens more standing at the back. When Didion came out to read, she looked frail and old. Her voice was a little bit slurred. From my vantage point, I could only see her eyes peering out through thick-rimmed glasses over the podium on the speaker's platform. Her voice did not carry to where I sat but came from a speaker that was twenty feet to one side of the stage. Unfortunately, she only read for about twenty minutes. She read from her new book "Magical Thinking." I haven't had a chance to look through it yet, but it was inspired after the sudden death of her husband.

I wondered after the reading whether her publishers were making her read this book simply as a sales tool. There were several other pieces that she could have read. I was hopping for and expecting something a little more political.

News from New York Art Scene

Dear Readers:

A lot has gone on since my last blog. It has been so Hot! It seems to take a lot of energy to do anything much at all. On Saturday, I went to the Whitney to see what was up, and the place was practically empty.

I have been transitioning to a new computer. This requires that one move information from one computer to another. I tried to set up a network to do this; but, after hours of trial and error on both my part and that of a more computer literate friend, things are pretty much at a standstill.

For the time being, I am content to have found my old blog site and get this time to add in a few thoughts. More to come on the new Whiteney show.

Joseph

Gallery Updates In Brief

Last weekend was the Fourth of July. I didn't have a vacation cabin booked at some place like Maine or the Hamptons. I thought it would be a good time to go and see some galleries.

I went to two shows. The first one was the Anime shoe at the Japan Society. The second one was the show of Daguereotypes at the International Center for Photography. Both of the shows were very well presented and showed some interesting work.

I will write more about the shows at a later date. Right now, I have to try and get some job hunting stuff done. Stay tuned. I know I am only writing for myself. No one knows about this blog.

Kick yourself.

Painting Again

I have been spending the last couple of months not being able to paint. I have been working in pastel instead. I had a canvas that I was working on but that had gotten me stumped. I was also broke and practically all out of paint. My brushes had all gotten hard or lost their bristles.

Now things are much better. I have gotten a little bit of money back from taxes and purchased some new tubes of paint and started working again.

In doing creative work, sometimes you have to put your work away for a while. I had started a painting with a woman in the foreground. There are some open windows of an apartment building in the background where there going to be a few glimpses of people watching television. I was going crazy trying to figure out the scale in perspective of the foreground and the background figures. Finally, it hit me, simplify! I decided to simplify the woman and make the background figures more abstract, shadowy shapes. Suddenly, everything seemed to be falling into place.

I get the feeling that once a painting is started, it is like it begins to come alive. It is like a voice talking to you saying, "Look, over in this corner! I need a to be brighter here." Sometimes it says, "No, don't go now! You have to change that woman's feet. "

It sure would be nice to work on my own time. I think I would like Picasso's work schedule. If I remember correctly, he would sleep late, spend the afternoon or dinner with friends, then work until early morning in the studio.

Responses welcome readers.

Joseph