Back in the saddle

I got back to my studio in Cold Spring, New York a couple of hours ago from our old farm in Northern Michigan. On the way back I resolved to try to give you more insight into The Map via this blog. I'll try to do a post every day and explain the steps as I go. I will also try to put a new panel on eBay each morning.

So.......I drew the next card- the four of clubs with an instruction to either make a new sheet of reduced (1/16) images or, if I didn't have the scans I needed to do that then to do more scans from where I left off last time. I haven't checked yet to see which will happen.

Then I counted down four sheets in the current stack I am working on (N1 and N2). That took me to the sheet above, N1/W24. I made two copies. The original  (a generation II) will be archived, one copy will become the new generation III, and the other copy will be offered on eBay soon. The colors came out way off from the original, but part of the random function of my rules dictates that the miscolored print must be used as is. Tomorrow I will try to resolve the printing issue.

I am working now on adding collage to N1/W24 and adjoining panels. I work in a clockwise manor along the periphery of what had been painted in generation I. Had the card been a red suit I would have worked counter clockwise.

Any questions?

Let's try again.......

I was reading some of the comments on The Map video last night and realized that some of you might want a Map print. So, I have started to re-list a few on eBay to see how it goes. The ones I had on there recently didn't sell. This time around I will put them out to auction. So...take a look!

And send me your questions......

Thanks!

Wow! Thanks, Vimeo!

Greg Whitmore, the videographer who made the short film of me and The Map, called me this afternoon to say that the editors of Vimeo, the website where we posted the clip, had listed ours as a "favorite" on their homepage. Now over 50,000 people have seen it. Wow!

You can check it out by searching "Jerry Gretzinger" at vimeo.com. (Sorry I am not organized enough to give you a simple link.)

But a huge thank you to Greg and to Vimeo and to son, Henry, and to the folks who have posted very nice comments after seeing The Map!

When Is The Map Not a Map?

When it is composed of abstract images like this one. I got tired of being too literal and wandered off into random images some time ago....in the 1980s, actually. The older I get, the less representative The Map becomes......metaphysical geography!

A new Map collage

UICA in Grand Rapids is having an opening show in July, and I am submitting some Map prints. But, because the request is for works that measure 7 by 11 inches (and my panel prints are 8 by 10), I have patchworked some prints together into the new format.  I found the results so satisfying that I may offer some of these collages on eBay. I will let you know! What do you think?

ArtPrize 2011 is coming!

ArtPrize 2011 opens in Grand Rapids on September 21. I have registered and am hoping to find a venue big enough to accommodate the entire Map (on the floor). This is no simple task since the current over-all measurements are about 40 by 40 feet. The last time the whole thing was assembled was in our loft in New York in 1982, and it only comprised 800 panels back then.

I visited the lobby of DeVos place the other day, and that would be perfect! There are balconies on two sides which would allow viewers to see the entire project from above. The next step will be to contact the person in charge of that venue.

If we can come up with a venue like that one,  our friend, Greg Whitmore, will make a trip out with his video equipment. He's the guy who made the video that is linked to this blog. Now he wants to film the entire Map to incorporate into a documentary which he would like to show at film festivals. It will be great for me, The Map, and Grand Rapids if we make this happen!

Here we go!

Real Estate Sale!

The Map is for sale again! I have posted several prints on eBay recently. They are 8 by 10" (the original size of the panel) and are inkjetted onto 110-pound paper. Each one is signed and dated and can be mounted easily in a 10 by 14 frame. At $19 apiece you can't go wrong.

Start your collection right now!

Thanks!