Chas Cochran . Harpman Sings The Blues

Chas is one of my favorite musicians. He is a singer/songwriter whose roots are in Chicago. His voice soothes my soul while his harmonica playing awakens my creativity. What could be better than that?

We met at Porter's Pub in Easton, PA where Maria Woodford ran the open mic on Thursday nights. Chas, along with several of the other fantastic musicians I have met at Maria's Open Mic played at the opening of my solo exhibit Fluidity at Monsoon Gallery in Bethlehem, PA. It was definitely a night to remember, a celebration of the creative energy that flows between music and art.

Visit Chas's Web Site

Listen to The Other Side of Two

Image: Chas - Watercolor by Chris Carter. To view more watercolor sketches of musicians visit Gallery of Musicians.

Painting with Acrylic Paint

For over twenty years I had a hate relationship with acrylic paints. They dry too quickly, the colors used to be far too plastic looking for my taste and they didn't have the wonderful smell of oil paint and turpentine that I love so much.

When I found myself pressured to begin, complete and hang a painting in less than two days I resorted to acrylics in spite of my dislike for the medium. Following the Hurricane Katrina disaster in New Orleans, I painted a series featuring two of the original New Orleans Jazz Bands, The Eagle Band and King Oliver's Band. The image above is The Eagle Band.

Working in acrylic I was forced to move quickly and boldly. For the first time, I enjoyed the quick drying medium. Shortly after completing the series, I forced myself to paint in acrylics, mixing my own dilutions and experimenting with the different mediums that are now available. Within a month's time I put the past dislike behind me and embraced acrylics. I am now able to use my watercolor techniques with acrylic on canvas. The paintings can be stretched and either not framed at all, or framed without glass. I often begin with watercolor splashes on the canvas, seal the watercolor and continue painting with acrylic. Acrylic also allows me to use charcoal for line work and delineation of forms. I can seal the layer of charcoal and continue with fresh glazes. The painting above, Dance for Dionysus was created in this way.

Zakar Art . Music Movement and Art

I just discovered the work of Dana Draper. He does amazing scrolls of moving figures. I'm hoping he will allow me to share his work on this blog. Seeing his work reminded me of the joy of painting the moving figure, something I don't do enough of these days.

There are two events scheduled. Next weekend, on April 29th, I will be painting in Califon on the green between Califon Fine Foods and Solaris Gallery. It is a fund raising event for a police officer recently diagnosed with cancer. Alex Radus will be the musician, Andrea, the dancer in this photograph at one of my openings at Monsoon Gallery, will be dancing and I will be painting. Hopefully Pete Stolvoort will also be painting. On May 20th I will be painting at Easton Yoga during the belly dance Hafla. I always return the the studio re-energized after a Zakar Event.

The Music of Maria Woodford

Click to Listen

Maria and her music has been a constant inspiration. Painting during her wedding was a most delightful experience.

Image: Maria and Brian dancing together on their wedding day.
Watercolor and Ink sketch by Chris Carter