I keep forgetting my camera when I go out.  Last night was no exception.  We went to an opening, then to a bar called Instant followed by a theater performance–an English/Hunagrian retelling of Hamlet (in 45 minutes).  I borrowed this photo of Instant from flickr:

the sweet fish sculpture in one of Instant's myriad rooms- the ceiling opens and closes, naturally

Nannette took me to the “tooth museum” a little room dedicated to teeth, but alas someone had broken in and most of the teeth were missing.  I don’t remember my dreams from last night, but I am sure they were about losing my teeth…  Mark has been requesting photos of the people I have met here so that he knows who the heck I am talking about when I describe my adventures.  One day soon, I will remember to bring my camera along.

In other news, I have set up a space in the apartment to do some oil painting.  Again with the islands.  I have big plans for these… I’ll see how that goes, as sometimes Art has it’s own plans.

stu-stu-studio

…it looks like a am painting in quarantine because of all of the plastic.  I also wear a hasmet suit.

the fourth yet probably not final one of these:

I have been making these strange map-like drawings.

Michael and I have been talking about the nature of this seeming pseudo scientific “study” I am undertaking.  It’s somehow anthropological and, of course, contrived.  I really am sort of finding out what I am doing as I go and am enjoying the process of exploration.  They remind me a bit of a Russian artist who was very well-represented at the Venice Biennale this year, Pavel Pepperstein:

an image I took of one of his pieces in the Russian Pavilion

and also the drawings of  Nedko Solakov, to whom Mark and I were introduced (his work, not him unfortunately) at documenta 11 in 2007:

I admire the work of both artists very much, and though I am not consciously trying to emulate their invented documentary-like drawings, I do see the connection.  This is my favorite one so far though my little point-and-shoot camera doesn’t capture it very well:

I think I tend to do this at home too, but especially when traveling, I like to surround myself with what are essentially souvenirs in the very literal sense of the word.  I love the word souvenir (from the French for “memory”).  I think many people do this, Todd Selby, does a great job capturing this, as I have mentioned before.  Here is my little still life, a sort of shrine to travel and adventure: some stones and glass from sites visited on this trip, a skull eraser procured at the giftshop at the Pinault collection, some lavendar I purchased from a street vendor here, a little Victorian-inspired brass clip in the shape of a hand I got at a shop in Vienna, a ceramic amulet given to me at the Iran pavillion at the Venice Biennale, and the prettiest bottle of mineral water I have ever had on a train (ok, so I drank the water).

There’s no sun on this particular Sunday.  We tried to go out to Szentendre, which is an artist community, but our day trip was rained out.  It’s too bad, but we’ll get there on a nicer day soon.  We did get a chance to see some Roman ruins before the rain started falling.  I like the way they contrast with the contemporary architecture.

Michael, Beata, and Maxie Honey Bunny checking out the ruins

We are meeting some really great people here, and have been checking out the local nightlife.  Last night I got dinner with a friend and met Michael and some other people at Corvinteto.  It’s a really amazing hang-out spot on the roof of a grocery store.  Someone told me it used to be a Socialist department store, but I’m not sure about that… I don’t have any photos, but on the beautiful breezy evening with an amazing view of the Budapest skyline with really nice people, drinking fröccs (a mix of wine and soda water- basically spritz), it was the perfect way to spend a Saturday night.  We ended the evening by getting some lángos (traditional Hungarian fried dough served with garlic, cheese, sour cream, etc.)  I had the garlicy version and it was perfect.

Here are a couple of drawings I have been working on…

...having something to do with Virginia Woolf

two Amelia Earhart drawings

Where are these weird little guys coming from?  Tomorrow I am meeting a friend to go art supply shopping.  The main art shop is closed until Friday, so that is a bit of an impediment, but we will prevail!  I want to get some oil paint to translate some of the little island images into larger paintings.  Right now Michael is cooking up some pasta with sauteed garlic and Hungarian spicy sauce.  It smells amazing, so I am going to go eat!

Though I have been inside making work for the better part of this week, we do get out to play from time to time.  Last night we attended an opening near the Basilica.

The skies were ominous and we ducked inside a cafe just time time to escape the rain.  Some new friends were not so fortunate and came in completely soaked.

Can you tell that I was listening to Belle and Sebastian yesterday?

I am settling into my studio space nicely:

Here are some pieces I have made so far.  I am pretty interested in the image of the skull, and am exploring it in my work.  This interest was sparked by an addiction I have of looking at the selby, photographer Todd Selby’s website.  He goes into creative people’s spaces and photographs them and their stuff.  I am captivated by people’s sort of universal shrine, or still life arrangements that they create just for themselves.  Todd Selby does a fantastic job of capturing that.  I am struck by the number of skulls on the site–as though these artists, musicians, etc., want to keep a reminder of mortality close at hand.  So I set out to make portraits of the skulls on his site.  I have done two so far:

a crystal skull

a skull with gold leaf

So recently, as demonstrated by the skulls, I have been interested in engaging and embracing mortality in my work.  I have been reading biographies of and memoirs by Virginia Woolf, Amelia Earhart and Emily Dickinson.  I chose three iconic, passionate women who died by different means: suicide, possibly a plane crash or related death, and illness respectively.  So I am making weird little pieces involving these women, their lives, last words and deaths.

I found an image online of Amelia Earhart's palm print, so I decided to make a piece about her lifeline

two small panels--images of Howland Island, Amelia Earheart's destination on her final flight, which she never reached

Also here is a piece that traces pattern of patina on a statue from Buda Castle:

These are just snapshots of what I am working on.  The photos are certainly not documentation-quality.  Here is another image that relays a sense of scale of some of the work.  The paintings are on birch panels mostly in gouache.

I think the smaller panels are about four inches wide, maybe five.

Here are some images of my situation.  I am staying in an apartment in the Jewish Quarter of Budapest.  It is a side street, but still realtively active, as there are plenty of shops and restaurants.  At first I was relieved that we had a 24-hour convenience store (here called a “non-stop”, which is displayed on the storefront in English) across the street, but then realized that all of the commotion I heard through my window the night before was people hanging out at the non-stop.  I am relieved to have brought my earplugs.  Here are some images of the apartment:

the living room (not that we spend much time watching TV- a little of The Office here and there)

there’s a kitchen- hooray!

the courtyard

our little terrace, good for unwinding

my studio space

I have a roommate, who I get along with really well. Mark had a chance to meet him too.  This residency is unique in that explicit studio space is not designated.  Since the living conditions are a lot nicer than some other residencies, it’s an okay trade-off.  It was difficult to negotiate at first, but since Beata, the woman who runs the program, found us a studio space outside the apartment, we decided that my roommate would work there and I would work in the apartment.  The arrangement seems to suit our particular practices nicely.  Finally, and importantly, here is where I get to eat breakfast every morning:

Mint Cafe and the nice people who serve up my espresso each morning

I have a voucher for breakfast each morning (cereal, rolls, jams, margarine, orange juice and tea or coffee), so I don’t pay each time.  So, even though I have already paid, it feels as though I am getting it for free.  Ege’szege’dre! (Hungarian for Cheers!)

Speaking of unfamiliar languages, I think when in a foreign land, the words we learn to say really reveal what we value.  For instance, I now know how to ask for soda water and a large black coffee in Italian, German, and Hungarian.

How many blogs begin with this title I wonder?  I don’t care, because it took my coming half-way around the world for this blog to come into existence in Budapest.  I hope there aren’t problems in customs when I come back to the U.S…  So I think the impetus for this infant blog is this trip to Europe and artist residency.  The banner image is part of a photograph I took in Rome.  Here is the entire image:

The title “Gulping Beauty” is a little bit ugly (gulping sounds so guttural) but pretty much sums up what the blog is about.  It seems like the kind of comment that pops out when one is actually overcome by beauty or the sublime and has forgotten the self.  These words were used by Amelia Earhart to describe the view during her first flight over the Atlantic.  I have been giving a lot of thought to the importance of beauty in my life and artwork, so I thought these words an apt title for this blog.

The trip has been amazing so far: Rome, Florence, Venice (for the biennale and the opening of the Pinault collection), Vienna and finally Budapest where the residency is located.  I will do my best to post about the trip, art we’ve seen, and events here over the next couple of weeks.  Budapest is amazing.  Here are a couple of images from my and Mark’s amazing day of glorious adventures last Sunday:

Mark and I at the citadel (on top of a very large hill- phew!)

A view of Pest from the Buda side at sunset

Buda Castle at sunset

that’s just a taste…

I’ll post more about our time here soon. I hope this blog becomes an ongoing way to share my artwork and experiences even after my return to “normal” life–whatever that is.   Thanks for looking!