I step into the subway conversation of Day 22 at the downtown R trains 14th Street platform.  Have a seat. James, The ReJimi Expereince, returns to his music. My hand has a hard time finding freedom in the confined space of the Metro card sized paper. James takes an above ground break and his guitar. [...]]]>

I step into the subway conversation of Day 22 at the downtown R trains 14th Street platform.  Have a seat. James, The ReJimi Expereince, returns to his music. My hand has a hard time finding freedom in the confined space of the Metro card sized paper. James takes an above ground break and his guitar. I guard his amp, cart and spot while outlining my metro card onto more cut pieces of 100% rag paper. On the 14th Street mezzanine Israel Mealy, Jean Bonano with Roger G, the Unique Force Hit Squad, pull a large crowd performing their white masked dance. From the bench Lucy sees my dollar go into their tip container and gives me a happy mothers day greeting. More defined gestures appear on the canvas with each performance. The Drumdies Beat-N-Brass band takes the “stage” and steps up the speed with four fine horns, drums and a cow bell. Lucy dances James Brown style like she’s back in a dance hall in South Carolina. Her purse hidden under my jacket, I’m on the dance floor being white girl with Lucy showing me her steps. Dede tells me to bring out the people so they come forward. Put more green in the pant leg. We make an art date for Monday, 6:00. You’re a south paw comes from John behind me. The mezzanine quiets down. Dede shares some tough time but i survived stories with Lucy, John and I. They watch my bags. I run to buy four paydays and two bottled waters with payment Jacqueline, a  lovely art patron, gave me for Drumdies Beat-N-Brass metro card painting. One candy bar gets returned, Here, I can’t eat this I don’t have teeth. Dede gives me a neckellodeon vicTORious microphone styling brush and leaves with Lucy. I didn’t have a child experience. I show John my scars he shows me his stabbed in his chest and old needle scars from his youth. I relax into my painting.  At 12:13 we exchange see you Monday John and see you Miss Ceil.

May 12, 2012

Image- Natalie Gelman on Guitar at Union Square

Musicians-

The ReJimi Experience (Facebook)

Roger G Unique Force Hit Squad

Drumadies Beat-N-Brass Band @  www.drumadics.com

My Day 21′s subway card sized pieces of 100% rag paper come out at the Union Square mezzanine with Abdus Sabor’s smile as Willie White starts a new rhythm. Rembrandt, in the”Rembrandt and Dega Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man”show at the Met, went tiny 400 years ago.  First sketch [...]]]>

My Day 21′s subway card sized pieces of 100% rag paper come out at the Union Square mezzanine with Abdus Sabor’s smile as Willie White starts a new rhythm. Rembrandt, in the”Rembrandt and Dega Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man”show at the Met, went tiny 400 years ago.  First sketch stiff, second to large, next vague, last gets Willie’s “Remember, it’s important to us” email reminder. The garbage  receptacle guarding my back takes a break while Desiree, a MTA employee slash future painting subject, empties it’s garbage. A young man mouths the words to his song. The camera women begins shooting. Conor Maynard, the British  Justin Bieber, sings  unplugged. Conor gives his audience of fifteen commuters another song, smiles at the three dollars in his cap and moves on with his entourage. Tin Pan’s performance mixed with whimsy and uncompromising musicianship makes Union Square stand still. The few moving commuters climb past my spot, hopefully unmarked by oil paint. Above ground Big Dog Party crashes into Euphoria Studio’s carpeted floor and walls. Paint tries to stay on canvas. Discussions of Chris Shelly’s “we bring what we’ve worked on separately to see what the others think” takes place with screams from guitars, drums and vocals. Canvas and next Tuesday set are in the bag. My long wait for the R train goes unnoticed.

May 10, 2012

Image 1- Sketch of Abdus Saborand Willie White on Drums (ink on paper)

Image2 – Tin Pan at Union Square (in progress)

Image 3 – Big Dog Party practice session at Euphoria Studio (in progress)

Musicians-

Abdus Sabor-Drummer/Percussionist and Willie White – Percussionist, AjibiluProduction

Conor Maynard – singer, song writer (Google)

Tin Pan- American Roots music @  www.tinpanband.com  with Jesse Selengut – vocals, trumpet, compositions,  Clifton Hyde – resonator guitar, mandolin, vocals,  Pete “Baby Hands” Maness – upright bass, vocals, Stefan Zeniuk – saxophones and clarinets

Big Dog Party -Felix Partow-guitar, Buzz Moschetti - bass, vocals, Ken Higgins – drums, Chris  Shelly – vocals

At the L elevator at 8th Avenue I’m hearing “I saw your painting on your website of my friend who plays with the Underground Horns”. Movie star Day 20 takes this painter down to the 6 train platform at Union Square to seat her a foot and a half above the subway [...]]]>  

At the L elevator at 8th Avenue I’m hearing “I saw your painting on your website of my friend who plays with the Underground Horns”. Movie star Day 20 takes this painter down to the 6 train platform at Union Square to seat her a foot and a half above the subway floor. I autograph the finished canvas and bag it with the seven other canvases. My daily text “tonight?” to Thamos Galliano  gets the answer “yes”.  Rush hour and the set are in full force. A MTA maintenance worker tells me I can’t paint in my spot. He moves on. I reorganize sideways and become the thickness of the pillar. The same MTA maintenance worker passes again and makes no comment. My brushes stop to soak up the drum and sax solos. The musicians break apart the music and put it back together. My painting tries to do the same. Minhao and I settle into the late set, same platform. The dripping waterfall coming from the subway ceiling tells us it’s raining outside. I miss my L train to the 8th Avenue E and instead go upstairs to the uptown Q. Three blocks longer in the rain rings in my ears. Instead an After It Rains New York night walks me home.

May 8, 2012

Image-  Thomas Galliano on Drums, Laurence Clark on Sax, Mitsuro on Bass on the L Train Platforn at Union Square

Musicians-  Underground Horns @www.myspace.com/undergroundhorns

Thomas Galliano – Musicien, Batteur (Google)

Laurence Clark – http://www.myspace.com/smaalas

Mitsuro

Seasoned commuters do the 50th Street A train E train upstairs downstairs wait. Upon hearing a downstairs rumble you run down the stairs to catch the A train express. Otherwise you stay upstairs and walk over to board an arriving local E train. A police officer watches Day 19 stop mid stride and opt [...]]]>

Seasoned commuters do the 50th Street A train E train upstairs downstairs wait. Upon hearing a downstairs rumble you run down the stairs to catch the A train express. Otherwise you stay upstairs and walk over to board an arriving local E train. A police officer watches Day 19 stop mid stride and opt out of the A train run. We exchange contact information. My MTA police officers love art. Canvas with missing musician versus  live artist singing her originals. At the Union Square mezzanine Natalie Gelman, her songs and her powerful voice move onto my canvas. The perspective shifts and the ground beneath the two people hugging in the back ground falls away. I  rest them on the guitar neck in homage to Natalie’s love songs. Thalys Peterson’s canvas lays in my bag for the first time in one year. All my attempts to contact Thalys last September and this April have failed.  Wet brushes, open turp, chair, coat, bags, pile into the elevator to follow my excited ears to the downtown R platform at 14th street. The elevator doors open and  Thalys Peterson sits in the same position and exact spot for the first time since his arrival back to the States three days ago. His music and my painting  capture each other.

Image- Thalys Peterson on the downtown R platform at 14th street

Musicians- Natalie Gelman- singer/songwriter @ nataliegelman.com, Thalys Peterson- Brazilian Musician

Day 18 has good timing. I’m at the top of the stairs sketching the south E train platform.  My pen slips from my hand as I change positions. A young adult appearing solely for the purpose to retrieve my pen picks it up and says hi Ceil. With him is his brother [...]]]>  

Day 18 has good timing. I’m at the top of the stairs sketching the south E train platform.  My pen slips from my hand as I change positions. A young adult appearing solely for the purpose to retrieve my pen picks it up and says hi Ceil. With him is his brother Max Gude, nineteen year old guitarist, game  for an evening of music and painting . Max this is JJ (James), JJ Max.  Max  admires JJ’s  harmonica mic set up while JJ does the Blues. Only with Max do I worry about the MTA police and the $300 fine for amp usage.  The unoccupied downtown 6 train platform at 14th Street becomes our home for the evening. Max can’t find a comfortable spot on my canvas. The electric guitar drowns out Max’s vocals. Hi sir. I brought my nephew down here so I can  paint. The amp is silenced.  The accommodating MTA officer tells us to continue, but, no amp. A religious man walks up to Max, says here take this, and gives Max an amp. Visually the train goes right into Max’s chest. His white lined guitar case looks like a protective shelter for his tips and sweater. Tips remain low. My painting moves forward. Max plays only originals no covers. With head out the subway train window a conductor yells to Max, “That’s how you get to Carnegie Hall, keep practicing!”

May 6,2012

Image- Max Gude on Guitar on the Downtown 6 train Platform at 14th Street – in progress

After two weeks of text messaging Thomas and I confirm today’s date paint and make my Day 16. Thomas Galliano on drums, Lawrence Clark on saxophone and  Mitsuro on bass share serious jazz with the commuters. I enter their world. Music and paint compositions [...]]]>

After two weeks of text messaging Thomas and I confirm today’s date paint and make my Day 16. Thomas Galliano on drums, Lawrence Clark on saxophone and  Mitsuro on bass share serious jazz with the commuters. I enter their world. Music and paint compositions proceed independently from the arriving and departing trains. Two young men try interrupting the flow. Thomas moves them away from his drums set. Two concerned policemen suggest I move further away from the platform edge. I comply. My ears can’t handle the slick music on the mezzanine. I hunt else where. Commuters migrate to Caesar Augustus Baits’ “stage” at the end of the L and 14th Street platform. After twenty appreciative audiences, one content painter, and a musician with wads of dollars the stage empties. Caesar replies “all right, all right Miss Ceil” to my thank you’s. The elevator door opens to a thick  fog on the mezzanine above the 6 train. Yellow helmeted, orange vested MTA workers out number the commuters. In the uptown Q train  the original ” Stand clear of the closing doors” plays loud and clear.  Caesar’s same two notes sound as the subway doors close.

May 2, 2012

Images- My Puppy Love Painting with a Flamingo Twist, Caesar Augustus Baits (in progress)                            Caesar Augustus Baits on Keyboard

Musicians- Thomas Galliano @ myspace.com/gallianothomas, Lawrence Clark  @ myspace.com/smaalas

Day 15 begins by entering the uptown subway at 50th and 7th Avenue. I face a red brick wall for two hours then enter the downtown subway at 50th and 7th Avenue past a red brick wall to catch the R train.  At the Delancy and Essex Street J train exit the Williamsburg Bridge stands [...]]]>

Day 15 begins by entering the uptown subway at 50th and 7th Avenue. I face a red brick wall for two hours then enter the downtown subway at 50th and 7th Avenue past a red brick wall to catch the R train.  At the Delancy and Essex Street J train exit the Williamsburg Bridge stands in East River to my right and Hotel Chantele houses live music one block to my left. City of the Sun’s concert is tomorrow night.  My ears, back on lookout for musicians, hear quiet at W 2nd Street, Layfayette Street and W 4th Street. I follow a guitar man carrying my backpack from the J to L to E looking for a spot. Ron Wingates incorporates me into his act between songs. Every 15 to 20 minutes the uptown E takes an audience away. Train comes. Paint in blowing  jacket sleeves hanging on iron pillar. Train leaves. Three twelve year old boys with a skate board high fist Ron. Paint in two of them. Train leaves.  A pride of young adults with the long legged young man sitting on the smallest young woman’s lap resting his elbows on the middle females left leg while third fuller young woman rests on middle young woman’s right leg occupy the bench seats. Paint in all of them. Train passes. Commuter tips us with cold sodas. The loud speaker announces no more uptown E service. Commuters, Ron and I discuss options. A uptown E roars to the platform. Ron throws my roller cart and golf chair into the train and forces the door open as I, wet canvas and the bag squeeze in. I take up a long bench packing my belongings. The gentle, peaceful snoring behind me comes from the sleeping man stretched out on the adjacent bench in his old blue paper hospital pants while the other half of the car has a flock of chirping twenties.

May 1, 2012

Image- Right hand with subway brushes

On Day 14 my unfinished canvases pull on my shoulder, hand and mind. Green outline on the film students arm throws the him out of the foreground. Turp removes green line. Blue outline places figure back into the foreground. Both stay. Film student’s nose turns blue. I wipe out seven signatures that fail [...]]]>

On Day 14 my unfinished canvases pull on my shoulder, hand and mind. Green outline on the film students arm throws the him out of the foreground. Turp removes green line. Blue outline places figure back into the foreground. Both stay. Film student’s nose turns blue. I wipe out seven signatures that fail my signature finger test. Cover signature with finger, look. Take finger away, look. Green signature on the inside basket rim stays. Adam Road and John Pita, the band members of City of the Sun, veer over to  my bench “studio” in the Union Square mezzanine and invite me to their studio for a possible paint date. Charles, a Capella member in Made Over,  and I are the same age. We wish each other happy birthday. As Made Over’s music director, Charles tells his apprentice nephew,”Listen only to music in key”, and to me “All the notes in a harmony create a new sound. That’s what attracts people to our group.” A man asks me for painting lessons. I’m sitting here on the R platform at 14th street finishing a painting I started at the R platform at Time Square. David Jensen on sax joins Francois. Conversations with marimba, voice and sax take over the platform for the next hour and a half.  Francois Nnang directs  his eyes, smile and song to specific commuters helping each to feel their uniqueness. Some are sent my way. One is sent to my painting.

May 1, 2012

Image- ReJimi Experience on Electric Guitar on the L Platform at 6TH Avenue

Musicians- ReJimi Experience on Facebook, Google: Francois Nnang