Lost Glove

While walking to my studio one morning back in February of 2004, I noticed a child’s glove lying on the sidewalk. The relationship of the bright red glove to the joints of the sidewalk created an interesting composition. I took a photograph of the glove and went on my way. After this I began to notice other lost gloves and would photograph them. Early on I established a couple of ground rules for myself. The first rule was that the glove, or anything else near it, could not be touched or moved in any way. The second rule limited any post processing to minor cropping, a little tonal adjustment, and sharpening if necessary. Photographing lost gloves became an obsession. I now have hundreds of photos of lost gloves.

Lost Glove

While walking to my studio one morning back in February of 2004 I noticed a child’s glove lying on the sidewalk. The relationship of the bright red glove to the joints of the sidewalk created an interesting composition. I took a photograph of the glove and went on my way. After this I began to notice other lost gloves and would photograph them. Early on I established a couple of ground rules for myself. The first rule was that the glove, or anything else near it, could not be touched or moved in any way. The second rule limited any post processing to minor cropping, a little tonal adjustment, and sharpening if necessary. Photographing lost gloves became an obsession. I now have hundreds of photos of lost gloves.

Joy

A photo of a large steel plate, in the street, covering a hole dug by a utility crew.

Trying to find joy in these corroded times.

Resurrection

Eros Lost in the Wilderness (detail)

Eros in progress. 

(See April 9th post for final sculpture)

At this point in the process, working in clay, I had almost finished the figure of Eros. The next step was to develop the clouds. When all of the clay elements were completed, I made a plaster mold in which to cast the resin. The resin cast was then painted with lacquer.

Pray For The Souls

In an Irish graveyard. Especially now, an appropriate sentiment.

Eros Lost in the Wilderness

Eros Lost in the Wilderness

lacquer on resin

20" x 21" x 2" 

(private collection)

This is one of the wall pieces I did in the late 1980s, and, when shown in Washington, DC Touchstone Gallery exhibition Sculpture for Walls, it received one of my best reviews.

“The strongest work was that of James Symons. His lacquer on resin reliefs, such as Eros Lost in the Wilderness, effectively combine classical and Neo-Expressionist references with a conceptual underpinning. A classical putto—referring to Lorenzo Ghiberti’s Gates of Paradise—flies through puffy baroque clouds across the top; expressionist chaos changes the lower half of the painting. In the center is an image of a city flying apart; a row of spikes marches across the bottom. Potent both formally and conceptually, the piece works well in the small format.”

Susan Platt, New Art Examiner

Baguette Series, Image #6

While living in a small town in France, Saint Cyprien, I took a series of photographs

of a baguette, from our favorite bakery, placed in interesting facades around town.

(These images are available as 5"x7" greeting cards)

Baguette Series, Image #11

While living in a small town in France, Saint Cyprien, I took a series of photographs

of a baguette, from our favorite bakery, placed in interesting facades around town.

(These images are available as 5"x7" greeting cards)

Baguette Series, Image #1

While living in a small town in France, Saint Cyprien, I took a series of photographs

of a baguette, from our favorite bakery, placed in interesting facades around town.

(These images are available as 5"x7" greeting cards)

Corrugated Cardboard Chair

I've always had a passion for corrugated cardboard. Peculiar, I know, but everyone has their quirks, right? Anyway, I have designed several pieces of furniture using it as a structural material. Back in the early 1970s, I created this chair made from a single sheet 

of corrugated cardboard which is scored, slit, and folded.

It is surprisingly sturdy for a cardboard chair.

Matin/Morning

Acrylic on Paper, 7-1/2"H x 5-5/8"W

While living in a small village in France in 2015, I painted a series of façades
inspired by the richly layered surfaces of the local architecture. 

Two of the paintings in this series are currently on display in the exhibition
Artists of Woodley Park at the Stanford Gallery in Washington, DC.

Truth/Trump

Autumn

Parc de Saint-Cloud

I think this is one of my best photos from the time we lived in Paris.

Splash

My daughter in the Mediterranean.

50 YEARS AGO

Acrylic on Paper, 15"H x 11"W

Like many who were alive on November 22, 1963, I can still remember where I was when I heard the report that President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas. I was at my first job out of college as a designer for a company in Alexandria, Virginia. Someone ran into the design studio with the news. Not much work got done that afternoon as we sat by the radio, stunned and grief-stricken. My first-time vote in a presidential election was for Kennedy. I went to his inauguration in January, 1961, and heard his famous "Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country." He created a real sense of renewal and optimism, especially among younger citizens. President Kennedy was a strong proponent of world peace. He initiated the Peace Corp, negotiated a limited nuclear test ban treaty with the USSR and UK, forged policies linking the US and Israel, and reinforced US commitment to West Germany. He also developed economic and social reforms, the "New Frontier,"  and promoted civil rights legislation and space exploration. Certainly there were many tragedies, problems, and challenges in his life and administration, but those were balanced to some extent by the intelligence, wit, and glamour that he and Jacqueline Kennedy brought to the White House. What might have been....

Fishing the Dordogne

Limeuil, France

Shutter

Tremolat, France

Barn Window

Plainfield, Vermont

Red Window

Ireland

Porthole

Ireland

One Eyed Cat

Ireland

Tattoo

Oil on Canvas, 12"H x 9"W

At one time I had a studio in the Mount Pleasant neighborhood of Washington, DC. 

It's a very vibrant area with an active street life and interesting shops and restaurants. A lot of the conversations I would overhear, while walking around, were in Spanish. The studio was small but it had really nice light. Occasionally I'd hire a model for portrait or figure drawings and paintings. 

Madonna

I love the worn surface, colors, and textures of this wall in France.

Maplewood

I took this photo with a Kodak Brownie Hawkeye (I wish I still had it) when I was 16. 

This is my family house in Maplewood, New Jersey.