Teaching a Spider the History and Art of Pictures, 2005, 12 by 15 inches, Oil on Canvas

Early September 2005- This is the first painting completed in my new basement studio. September is spider season and I enjoy finding and admiring the biggest fattest spiders and webs I can. I'm both enamored and horrified by spiders. There's just something about them. Spider enthusiasts might recognize this as a common orb weaver which makes it an unlikely basement companion since they live primarily outside in gardens and similar places. But none the less, if there is a spider who lives in my neck of the woods that could appreciate the history and art of picture making, this would be it. September is also school season, and since this is my first September in 21 or so years that I haven't had to attend or teach in school I'm a little lost without it. So I have decided to take on a pupil and teach them what I know about art.

Joseph Cornell often listed what music he was listening to, or books he was reading while making a work of art. I listened to the Iliad and the Odyssey on CD.