what the ploughman hears

Tarry For The Night

2012-01-23T22:19:00.000-05:00

Finished recent canvas on the Biblical tale of Jonah ( see blurred detail above ) . It's mostly ink and paper the rest of the week as I press to run some block prints before this month expires. Faint not . . .

How Little Is Known

2012-01-16T13:56:00.000-05:00

Into the days, fully armed and prepared to wrestle with the distinctive battles that come with every new canvas, blank page, sheet of linoleum, block of wood. The joy in the struggle is often overshadowed in the struggle to convey.

Thankful for the time. . .

This Is My Father's World

2011-12-26T12:39:00.000-05:00

All creation singing, and preening in the garden outside my studio window this morning. These birds won't be ignored.

A block print to be run- (this restive horse doesn't want to yield to the preoccupying canvas on my easel at the moment ).

The Arrow That Flies By Day

2011-12-12T04:20:00.001-05:00

From a window on the garden I watch God bring down the curtains on autumn.

Some progress,albeit small, on new recording. Also, some new lino cuts in the offing. Making an effort to return more to prints in the forthcoming year.

The worker does his work . . .

What Has Taken Place

2011-11-28T22:10:00.002-05:00

Back in the studio this week, itching to begin working after a European journey consuming most of November. The rich offerings of masterworks in Venice and Florence , and even Milan made for an immersing diversion. And ... warm days for a Glasgow November. Blessed, it's true.

Many thanks to all of those who attended, and purchased work from "The Deserters " exhibition last month. I was truly stirred by the many kind remarks and remain grateful for your patronage. The reception was a warm welcome to a northerner, unfamiliar with the charms of Fort Worth and it's community.

( featured sketches from : Edinburgh, Florence and Glasgow ... )

And If You Go

2011-10-05T23:02:00.000-04:00

Abiding

2011-09-12T17:39:00.001-04:00

Counting off the remainder of days before the opening of "The Deserters" exhibition in Fort Worth,Texas. Work to be done - press, invitations, framing...
Other projects in the offing - a print series and book on the book of Lamentations .The return to two postponed recordings, and a few exhibitions pending.

Ordinary Air

2011-08-14T23:01:00.000-04:00

All but consumed by the tyranny of the last large canvas/panels marked for inclusion in October's The Deserters exhibition ( some minimal detail in progress, in photograph above ). Anticipating a great sense of relief lying in the pasture that waits beyond this show. Unfinished recordings to tend to. Possibly another book of prints, based on the prophet Jeremiah's poetic Lamentations.

Moments Of Clarity

2011-07-10T01:20:00.000-04:00

Several ways of seeing the high summer months of monastic exile. Diversions are minimal. Contemplation and self analysis flourish.Long days overlap, but are currency for a future allowance.

Along The Graded Shoulders

2011-06-16T21:46:00.000-04:00

Dates for forthcoming exhibition, "The Deserters", have been finalized .

The Deserters
Paintings, Sculpture and Prints by Mark Renner
October 1-31, 2011
Opening Reception : Friday October 7, ( 6:00 -9:00 PM )

Fort Worth Community Art Center
1300 Gendy
Fort Worth , TX
76107
817.298.3021

Honey From The Salty Sea

2011-06-03T17:19:00.000-04:00

Settled in, back from a goat trail through the deeper south-Mississippi, Florida, New Orleans, Alabama, San Antonio.Gathered some interesting field recordings and alligator roadkill sightings. Readying for months of exile in the flame of a Texas summer. A measure of patience required. . .

My Father The Archipelago

2011-05-18T02:46:00.000-04:00

They say- "No man is an island." Alright then . . .

A recent lino-cut, freshly printed.

Temperate Grasslands

2011-05-12T10:59:00.000-04:00

Gratefully, a strong season of fertile ideas and vision. Pushing away from the conventionally heroic , seeking another language away from the reliable antecedents.
A recent painting.

Getting Where You Need To Go

2011-04-28T20:12:00.000-04:00

Leaving in the early, bound for the city of Houston. A recent painting selected as a finalist for the 2011 Hunting Art Prize, the transplanted British painting award and largest current monetary prize in the United States.Exhibition,Gala and highway to negotiate.

Juggling more canvas on the easel than I can count at the moment. trying to budget some days in the first week of May to run a series of prints completed in a recent return to Baltimore.Time is a gift. . .

Bits Of Paper

2011-03-21T23:05:00.000-04:00

Springtime. Lilacs, Lavender spilling over the top of the fence. I am reminded of the Kenneth Graeme intro to the golden. pastoral days of Mole and Ratty in Wind in the Willows. . .
A small slice of this year's Ethiopian sketch book. . .

All Manner Of Things

2011-02-07T17:25:00.000-05:00

One of my grandfather's most repeated phrases was - " Be Still ." He was an orderly man, adamantine in his approach to his daily structure. I always noticed the manner in which he would grab his pants at the crease just above his knees and slightly raise them as he sat down.Toast and marmalade in the morning, soft butter. Newspaper, hat and scarf .Vests. Long periods of silence and a novelist's eye for a yarn .

There is a point we seldom recognize in our own fast flying days, when our own routine and perculiarities become the framework of daily living. In approaching painting, I am not always certain if this is a good thing . Repeating oneself, or relying on the comfortable and familiar will eventually extinguish. There but for the grace of God go I . . .

Off to Addis Ababa this week, sketchbooks in tow. Unless the powers that be at customs decide they want to retain some drawings for themselves, I will post some sketchbook pages upon returning.

The Boatman Is Waiting

2011-01-24T12:17:00.000-05:00

Returning from New York, New Jersey, Baltimore . From the tall Brooklyn brownstones, to the sleepy cornfields of Egg Harbor,down to the old quarters of Arcadia, this winter certainly has it's captives. The frozen landscapes and cities look as if they will remain that way for some time to come.

Paintings in progress - a knot of humanity on the edges of some plangent terrain. A few new ideas to explore from some random sketches. Prints to run. The ox is in the furrow, for certain .

A quick few weeks before departing for Ethiopia.

Ground To Cover

2011-01-01T22:22:00.000-05:00

"The winds must come from somewhere when they blow,

There must be reasons why the leaves decay;

Time will say nothing but I told you so . . ."

- Wystan Hugh Auden

The calendar turns, and sifting through the flotsam of another

annum, tactical plans are floated for the river ahead. Atlanta

Juried Printmaking Exhibition in January, returning to Ethiopia in

February, and a busy run through October - (announcement to

follow. . .)

Reason Holds The Reins

2010-12-15T17:03:00.000-05:00

Returning from the frozen north and the earliest winter I can recall in many years. Final strings to tie up for a major exhibition in October of 2011. It's ink and paint, not blood and soil but at times I must admit, it sure feels that way.

The Sky And The Ground

2010-11-29T22:27:00.000-05:00

Evening, and I will be taking leave shortly, along the trail that leads backwards to Baltimore. A 23 hour drive, with a detour in Richmond. I'll take the coat off the nail, bring the sketchbooks and nutbread.

Rowing Onward

2010-11-10T13:24:00.000-05:00

Diverted by the tasks of assembling a new website(markrenner.net) to coincide with the release of a new recording. . .and trying to settle down to focus on painting and finishing another recording before February.

Sketch is a part of the detail from a forthcoming painting,which may or may not resemble it at all.

Measured Response

2010-10-12T20:59:00.000-04:00

A few other glimpses from the Glasgow sketchbook.The days here have been more bearable and I am hoping to put away the paints on friday and take the sketchbook for a little exercise .

Along the Way

2010-10-12T20:41:00.000-04:00

A recent painting completed for the Grand Prairie Invitational.

While Asleep

2010-10-11T09:34:00.000-04:00

Working on several things at once. Time away has dashed my routine. As promised, a quick study from the sketchbook- near the Barras on a Saturday morning. . .

Last night I dreamt of a painting.It is not often that I am given visions or ideas while sleeping, however the image was still in my mind at 6:00 am when I awakened. Unlike Blake, my work has never been informed by the mystical,(or Dante or Milton for that matter). I have no idiosyncratic polemic to expel.Yet sometimes you take what you've been given, so I will attempt to map out this nocturnal impression on canvas.

Good days ahead. . .

On We Go

2010-10-05T08:08:00.000-04:00

Returning from 3 weeks in Caledonia, refreshed/ renewed and pushing toward the rushing current that leads to year's end.

An early November release date for Enduring the Going Hence, the next recording , and increasing backlog of work for a forthcoming exhibition, more than a few years inthe making.

Will scan some sketchbook pages from the Scotland visit if I can pound some life into my tempermental scanner.

If you find yourself in the Richmond, Virginia area in the next few months , I have a print included in the 2010 Harnett Biennial of American Prints .

http://museums.richmond.edu/exhibitions/index.html

Oil the Harvester

2010-09-01T14:21:00.000-04:00

I will have two paintings in the forthcoming Grand Prairie Invitational
opening later in the month...have just returned from
Baltimore , where I recorded 2 songs for a forthcoming
project.Will be leaving for Glasgow in another week-
music, assault on the sketchbook and . . . vacation.

Cast Your Bread

2010-08-10T03:25:00.000-04:00

A relatively productive summer.Imprisoned most

days by the soaring heat , there has been little

to distract from painting and the odd print.

Incessant labor, bringing fruit . . .

Empirical Study

2010-07-01T23:04:00.000-04:00

Working out some scenes on canvas-parable ,interpretation , honing motif . . . Forestalling work on smaller panels for the expanding breadth of a larger surface . The overwork of aTexas summer has kept me indoors for a while,and I am craving a day out for the vigor of sketchbook infusing exploration.

"The Incarnation shows man the greatness of his wretchedness, through the greatness of the remedy required ." Pascal

Indelible Impress

2010-06-20T01:36:00.000-04:00

The past week was spent awash in black ink,running print after print, making slight detail corrections in between . I had truly forgotten how much I had once enjoyed this medium,and the early dews of trial and error discovery .The threadbare confines of my budget allowed me little extravagance,so I worked on small sections of linoleum and wood , rationing every cut and line lest I slip and lay waste to the small surface.

I will purpose to post some more recently completed prints .

Lately

2010-06-05T12:12:00.001-04:00

The return to the far less familiar world of Texas.Ten days in Baltimore,echoing the more violent summers of the recent past.The heat is rising.

A decisive commitment this month to working on a much larger scale than I normally approach. Canvas and a length of wood beckon.

The Twitching Flame

2010-05-10T10:01:00.004-04:00

Returning from a weekend journey to Lafayette,Louisiana for the opening of Southern Open 2010,a juried exhibition featuring three of my smaller paintings.Lovely town with an apparent sympathy for the visual arts.One notable observation on the long drive down Route 49 - just the most exotic variety of roadkill one could ever witness on a state highway .

It's back to work on lino-cuts this week , a large canvas beckons and as Ivan Morrison once said,there's "no time for shoeshine. . ."

Innate Reserve

2010-04-23T14:31:00.000-04:00

Detail from a proof run of a larger lino-cut .

The week finishes at a hurried pace- last minute framing to ready three small paintings off to Southern Open exhibition opening on the 8th of May at the Acadiana Center for the Arts in Lafayette,LA .
acadianacenterforthearts.org

Coarse Foddering

2010-04-15T09:51:00.002-04:00

A lot of work approaching completion.An active month - painting,prints.Learning not to lose heart on slow moving days.A few exhibition pieces in the works, and Lord willing, the final recording next month for the long delayed :Enduring the Going Hence . . and at

long last the website update/overhaul.

Head Full of Green

2010-03-21T03:28:00.000-04:00

Spring comes . Ideas arriving . A quick detail sketch from a forthcoming paintng . . .

The Confounded

2010-03-11T10:47:00.003-05:00

The long drive down from Baltimore left plenty of hours to drift through the remote past.There is much about the people and terrain of the south that remains a mystery to my northern soul .I suppose until now,I have formed my subjective view through the words of Flannery O'Connor , Cormac McCarthy and the lens of film makers. For the months ahead,I abide and observe...
Current work - pressing ahead on new panels for a regional exhibition, and several new prints...

Beyond What Kindness Can Do

2010-02-07T00:34:00.000-05:00

It is nearly time for returning to Ethiopia. I will attempt to chronicle more this year in the sketchbooks,and post a selection upon returning....

Beneath the Limbs

2010-01-13T10:45:00.001-05:00

The ordinary fields of the day to day , the return to Ethiopia on the horizon . Thinking about home , as if I have rehearsed this day before . Recalling that one great meadow grove that flanked the furthest corner of my father's property .

Working out some musical ideas , and attending to some new lino-cuts .

"What is the comfort of a plan of a house if you do not enter the house itself ?"

C H Spurgeon

I Cede

2010-01-05T17:42:00.000-05:00

Like an angler that returns to his favorite spot,I will always hew to the reliable pages of the sketchbook when inspiration is scant .

Days of Rendering

2010-01-04T23:00:00.001-05:00

Starting to grow more at ease in a new work area.Outside,the winter tears along and there are sporadic taps on the roof and the walk as the remaining pecans are shaken from the limbs. I hope to get outside with a sketchbook when this cold front breaks . I was startled when running through the wood yesterday by a coyote .

Salt and Light

2009-12-30T02:31:00.001-05:00

Still getting matters in order, was able to map out an idea for this panel,and hope to get cracking in the morning.Slowly adjusting to another time zone and the light of a very different sky .

Somewhere South

2009-12-21T10:25:00.000-05:00

Hurdled through the carved hillside of Virginia and Tennesee , miles of fence and field,the truck stops and weigh stations,the mobile homes of Arkansas,and crossing the border under the staggering colors of the vast Texas skyline .I arrive and begin to unpack in what appears will be home and studio for the next few years .

A pervasive sense of optimism in the transition - a new region,new customs,new challenges,and for the time being,the solitude to compose.

Man and Land

2009-11-14T03:45:00.001-05:00

In December , I will be making a major regional shift , leaving behind the familiarity (and comforts ? ) of the Mid - Atlantic for an undefined period in the south . I will be very curious about the impact this might have on both visual and musical work . Will there be inspiration among new people and new terrain ? Will new surroundings sever thematic currents and stir in other directions ?

The Periphery of Solace

2009-11-08T17:53:00.000-05:00

My alluring piano . A slow Sunday is never complete without an hour's interlude .There are panels to complete , blocks to be cut , but I am always diverted . Now back to some mill grinding , with renewed vigor .

Not Dark Yet

2009-11-02T00:11:00.000-05:00

If there is a distinct day that divides the seasons , the first of November seems to be that day for me . . . Work is slowing , self - questioning in approach , (exhausting an idea or more to be done . . . ? ) a momentary pause before the next lift . Shorter days , less hours of sun . But it's not dark yet . . .

A Different Hue

2009-10-16T07:53:00.000-04:00

Morning. 6:37 am , and I am the waterfront's sole occupant . The cold and steady drizzle has likely frightened away most of the normally intrepid day-greeters . The water is the color of the day old puddings you used to see behind the glass in London take-away shops .

But should the sun come into view , the water turns a different hue ...

A recent panel , from "The Deserters" . . .

Coming Near

2009-10-14T07:49:00.000-04:00

Like a boat approaching the sound after a long journey , on a long river ....

Lord I feel it ....

A recent panel from "The Deserters " .

The Arrow Moves

2009-09-26T06:32:00.000-04:00

After many years of city living I recognize my tendency , however vigilant , to have my senses deadened by the familiar . Perhaps it is the surroundings of concrete and automobiles , the inevitable urban decay , or perhaps it is simply due to an accelerated pace of living . I am trying to train my mind to seek and observe what I may be missing . To uncover something new in the midst of what has grown unremarkable . . .

Mind in Exile

2009-09-20T07:39:00.000-04:00

The onslaught of subtle autumn sounding , rendering the natural results .

Hiraeth

2009-09-04T00:19:00.000-04:00

A few days of subdued summer , the beginning of September , and you might somehow forgive one for allowing a wistful nostalgia to permeate the mind . The Welsh have a word for it , Hiraeth , which the English can offer only a rough and pale translation - a longing and yearning for home .

Yet another (detail ) from a piece for The Deserters . . .

Somewhere Weatherside

2009-08-12T21:54:00.000-04:00

Have nearly completed work for " The Deserters " . Have been working on some new ideas derived from some personal research and speculations from Reformation era living , will possibly post the first completed painting for my next update . I have a few recordings near completion which could beget some distraction , or occupy the premises of my redoubtable list of extensive projects . . .

Flodden Field

2009-07-20T21:54:00.000-04:00

If memory serves , Flodden Field was the sight of a tremendous slaughter of valiant , yet overmatched Scots who followed the over -confident James IV to a massacre in Cumbria . This painting has nothing to do with that battle , but the name for me , always held a resonance of heroic failure .

Sooner Than You Think

2009-06-28T18:01:00.001-04:00

Sweeping changes on the horizon . The lucid , tidy maps and outlines of how we sometimes envision life will play out . . . another phase or era looking to begin . Ready or not . . .

This sketch is from an old sketchbook from a few years ago . The man was a former cook in Glasgow who had been fired for drinking .

Lead a Quiet Life

2009-06-10T17:31:00.000-04:00

The return to lino - cuts is near . Here is a recent painting .

The Sacred Journey

2009-05-03T22:43:00.000-04:00

"Each life is not just a journey through time , but a sacred journey ."

F. Buechner

Christopher Andrew Renner

1962 - 2009

The Return

2009-04-06T12:30:00.000-04:00

It has been a fluid , prolific season - completing a succession of work for "The Deserters " exhibition . I have neglected the other " fields " - music and printmaking , and I know I must return .

I remember when I was very young , I would rise before my parents and brothers and walk out to a certain space in the pasture behind my father's barn . There was a certain pleasure in knowing that small slice of the world was mine alone to enjoy . Even at that young age there was a sense that the moment must be made the most of , that I would soon be summoned back to the beckoning of that other world .

My Path

2009-04-04T21:30:00.000-04:00

"My path has long hours,jolts and pains . My path has peaks and sea-troughs,sand and sky . Mine or thine . "
Edmond Jabes

Terrae Filius

2009-03-21T05:27:00.000-04:00

A son of the soil .

Fecundity

2009-03-21T04:56:00.000-04:00

In the clouded hours before dawn , contemplation and creative energy always seem the strongest . Silence has it's gifts - an undisturbed fruitfulness .

Teach Us To Number Our Days Aright

2009-03-16T21:31:00.000-04:00

Little time for soliloquy . Resisting the tyranny of abandoned notions . Flashes of pencil in notebooks , hastily scripted on backs of envelopes . Prone to wander . . .

Words From The Front

2009-02-24T07:00:00.000-05:00

Other recent paintings.These will likely be included in The Deserters exhibition.

More Annals of the Journey

2009-02-23T23:25:00.000-05:00

More . . .

2009-02-23T22:25:00.000-05:00

Annals of the Journey

2009-02-23T21:50:00.000-05:00

Here are some quick scans from sketches compiled from a short - term missionary visit to Ethiopia . I will attempt to add more in the forthcoming week . . .

time for returning

2009-01-24T17:45:00.000-05:00

In less than two weeks I will be returning to Ethiopia to work with a medical missionary project in that nation's capitol . This will be my fourth visit , and with each subsequent return there is a vast reminder of the tremendous suffering and disparity between our two realms . For most , the daily struggle for survival eclipses the notion of hopes and plans , which may be poverty's cruelest symptom .
I anticipate joyful reunions and as ever , the loved and unlovely sights and odors , noise and music , smiles and tears of Addis Ababa's urban carnival . It is an invasion of the senses , and I have collected many sights and details in sketchbooks over the years . ( many should be made available in a forthcoming monograph )

The image is a large lino-print based on the life of the biblical prophet Jeremiah

Considering

2009-01-02T20:12:00.000-05:00

Through a series of astounding events , I find myself shifting slowly to another part of the country . Still getting my bearings , finding my way , I confess some hesitancy ... wondering if I will stir some quiescent regard for a vastly different region .

Where there is life , I will likely find inspiration . . .

This a study on panel I am pushing to complete . . .

2009 . Good days ahead . . .

The Deserters

2008-12-08T17:23:00.000-05:00

This is from a forthcoming exhibition , mentioned before in this journal - The Deserters .

Worker

2008-11-23T09:40:00.000-05:00

This study is from several years ago . I attempted to reflect the strain of the industrial worker , in a realm that frequently denied him emotions. At the time , a large portion of the population in the section of town where I had just moved , toiled and made their livings in the furnaces , factories , and docklands . It was a river many thought would never run dry .

Open Sky

2008-09-27T14:37:00.000-04:00

The morning spent on time - draining technical matters , I was pushing to return to some panels and canvas paper that has beckoned for several days . A quiet house , steady rain , the hint of autumn , and the arrival of new ideas combine for more than enough inspiration to get cracking . , . This sketch is for a painting in a series I have provisionally titled "The Deserters " . They are sojourners . Perhaps castaways , rejected yet seeking and searching . Some have taken a solitary path and others conspire . . .

Cleaning House

2008-09-03T22:41:00.000-04:00

A few years ago I had my room burgled in Glasgow . I had two large sketch books taken , along with my passport . I suppose the thief had no interest beyond the sketchbooks , since he left this acrylic study behind .

September again . . .

2008-09-01T10:18:00.000-04:00

stepping lightly into this realm . . . for the time being , a format for posting completed and unfolding work and ideas . . .