Summer 2010

Time to work on new approaches to the same old stuff.

Artists and writers have a limited amount of ideas to work with and the battle is to find new ways to broach this material and make it fresh and vital.

Here's a new poem:

DRawing From a SUmmer Day

Blue time road west clear

Dog car stop go back

Scratch lose take back cut

Scrape a grand small moment of start over

Final 2 weeks of Spring term

There are several projects that could help your work, why not try one of them?

1. Write a poem and transfer the typography onto a canvas and work from there.

2.Paper mache bas relief with paint and transfered image.

3. Self portrait in monochrome transfer.

4. Just paint.

see you next week. john.

Crepes and crudites

i have a show in Holliston at Pejamajo Cafe, 770 Washington Street (5084295200), for the month of May. i hope you can drive out here and take a look and enjoy the food as well, if you do please give me a call, 5084887710, and i'll meet you and show you my studio.

John Murray Classes for week of May 3:
i have a model for Mon. am (female nude) anyone who wants more work with model is invited to come and join the group.
All other classes (Mon.pm, Postmodern and all day Wed Supercharged painting) please continue with the acrylic transfers and consider a paper mache relief object. Thank you-john.

All John Murray Classes week of April 26, 2010

Let's try an acrylic transfer to canvas, paper or wood.

When Rauschenberg did his transfers to canvas he used highly-toxic materials such as xelene, with the method i use non-toxic acrylic gel and photocopies are used and the effects are excellent.

i would like all classes to try this as an under- painting setup that can be worked over and incorporated into an image or object with either acrylic or oil paint, wood, plaster or paper mache. Materials needed are acrylic gel, either wood panel, stretched canvas or heavy paper (hot press) and black and photo copies that you want to incorporate into your piece.

Thanks, see you next week...john.

Murray classes week of April 12 2010

We will have a model all day Wednesday, for both sections of Supercharged painting.
A nude female model, please bring a large canvas, a pad of newsprint and the usual paints and materials you normally use.
Monday painting class and Postmodern Assemblage will not have a model this week, so please continue to work on last week's work.
Cori and i are trying to find a model for Monday the 26th, since New Art Center is closed for Patriots Day on the 19th.

John Murray Spring Classes

Thank you for signing up for my classes.
All painting classes please bring a pad of tracing paper or newsprint, basic acrylic paints (primaries and black and white), a large amount of acrylic gel, a medium size canvas (18"x26?) and a poem about a powerful life experience.
Postmodern Assemblage please bring the same as above as well as material for paper mache and wire for an armature. See you then, john.

Death to Ear of Van Gogh

All John Murray classes week of March 15 and 22nd.

Try and finish all projects (currently 3-part repetition piece.

If finished try to write a poem about something powerful that happened in your life and incorporate that idea or language into a painting. here's mine:

CaR CRaSH July, 1959

When i picked it up

In Dearborn

From grinning Ford guy late

Afternoon

Top down gassed it east

No thought of sleep only sun

Set flow to night Poconos GW

Bridge 125th Street

Large black man peering

Down at white kid in new

White-on-white T'bird

Then sun-hammered head on

Mass Turnpike

Entered a room of dreams

Stars, stars, glass, glass... STARS!

Came to beneath car gas fumes

Permeating oily grass/glass pebbles

How can i fix this thing?

Some bodyshop tradeschool/kid/friend

To bring such a folded mess to

Now?

Hurt but not dead that day.

Someday, though.