Fresh off the board.

New Archival prints of the original ink wash drawings, now available.

Works in progress.

“Uni-wheel”, Joe Steinlauf, c.1920, The North Carolina Transit Museum, Spencer, NC.

With the summer and vacations nearly behind us, things will be taking on a new, yet familiar rhythm, back to making new things. Meanwhile, a couple of fun things we saw along the way.

NC Transit Museum Round House

Luna 3, 1959, Soviet Lunar Probe, detail, oil on copper, 12″ x 12″ 1996

James Dean’s drawing of Astronaut McCandless’ Tetherless EVA, 1984

It’s been great sharing our space/art interests together this past month. James Dean and I have met and talked with lots of wonderful, interested visitors from all over, telling us their stories of personal involvement with the Space Program.  Many had little idea that NASA, from early on, had such an interest in artistic interpretation as to collaborate with the National Gallery of Art, to promote and collect art about America’s foray into outer space.

It was lovely seeing Peter Jacob, chief curator at Air and Space, last Sunday at our Splashdown reception, who reminded me that Telstar is now on view at the museum on the National Mall. Can’t wait to see it!

My drawing of Telstar, detail, graphite on paper, 1997.

A couple of other works…

Luna 16, Soviet Lunar Probe vehicle, oil on panel, 24″ diam., 1998

Abandoned Vehicle, detail, oil on copper, 12″ x 36″1999

As the exhibition comes to a close, I’d like to thank a few people for helping make our exhibition a success – Barbara Muth, and Alison Sigethy for helping keep the doors open, as well as with the Splashdown Reception and Open House, and Abbey McClain and Daniel Guzman for helping get the word out.

If you haven’t been by yet, we’re closing on Sunday afternoon.

Artists James Dean, and Phil Jameson w/Rita Dean, at the Apollo -Soyuz Launch in 1975.\

I happen to share a studio with a gentleman with quite a storied career. From the early 1960’s through the early 1970’s, James Dean was the Director of the NASA Art Program, orchestrating the amassing of a remarkable collection of art, (documented in the book “Eyewitness to Space”) now residing with the National Air and Space Museum where he subsequently worked as the Curator of Art. He recently told me the story of how the sculpture, “Ad Astra”, by Richard Lippold, in front of the Museum of Air and Space, came to be where it is.

I would not have expected that there would be no more bureaucracy involved than one guy standing on the sidewalk with a magic marker and placing an X where he thought it ought to go, but in 1976, the Arts Curator stretched his arms out as he stood in front of the museum, and figured somewhere along the middle, with a good and proper view of the National Gallery of Art straight out in front. He then bent down and made a mark where he thought the signature sculpture should stand.

Dean then told me about how he helped the arts committee decide how the new piece would look in the auspicious spot it was to be placed. After the deciders tentatively approved the maquette of the proposed piece, James acquired a large red weather balloon which was then tethered by ropes, held steady by helpful staff janitors to hold aloft a 100 foot cord with which to visualize the proposed monument. One hundred feet high was the limit set by the city, so that no building or sculpture would be allowed higher.

The wind not withstanding, the helpers were able to hold the crimson orb suspended at the appropriate height for the city officials and arts professionals to stand and observe, then walk to several distances across the National Mall, to ascertain whether the proposal would be deemed appropriate. When they reached the opposite side, in front of the National Gallery of Art, they paused to discuss. At that moment, the balloon unexpectedly burst, showering powder and debris, along with the ropes, and 100 foot cord, onto the head of the unsuspecting art director.

When the group returned with their verdict, they had approved the design, wondering how James had managed to burst the balloon just as they had given the okay. He was much relieved.

Ad Astra, by Richard Lippold, on the National Mall, Air and Space Museum, Washington

And on the opposite wall in Studio 306, Torpedo Factory:

TIROS (Television Infrared Observation Satellite)1960.

Oil on panel, approx. 5″ x 9″, 1998.

Press Release

Generations: Space Exploration from Inception to Cultural Memory

It will soon be 47 years since humans first set foot on the moon. To commemorate this momentous accomplishment, realist artists James Dean and Kara Hammond bring together their space related works to celebrate the early days of space travel and exploration, in a small, targeted retrospective.

As NASA art director, James Dean escorted the likes of Robert Rauschenberg, Cy Twombly, Jamie Wyeth, Norman Rockwell, and Paul Calle to witness history in the making as they created original works for the NASA Art collection. As the former Curator of Art at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Air and Space Museum, Dean shows his own considerable artistic prowess at capturing the early heady times of space exploration through original on-site sketches and personal photographs of the artists working at Cape Canaveral in the early 1960’s – 70’s.

Established artist Kara Hammond will show her immaculately rendered paintings and drawings from the 1990’s, of early space technology, including many Soviet era craft virtually unknown to the American public until decades later. Her work investigates the implicit beauty of machines built to withstand the most extreme extraterrestrial forces.

Show Opens July 1 and runs through July 31, 2016

Studio 306, third floor

Torpedo Factory Art Center

105 N. Union St.

Alexandria, VA, 22314

The Splashdown Reception will be Sun. July 24 from 1pm to 4pm, to celebrate the 47^th anniversary of the return of the Apollo 11 astronauts.

Our July show will feature art work for and about the 20th century forays into outer space by an active participant in the artistic chronicles of these historic events (James Dean) and those of an interested observer (myself).

Studio 306, Torpedo Factory Art Center, for the month of July.

The exhibition, “The Hand Speaks” will be closing Sunday, May 22 at The Associates Gallery (TAG), the Torpedo Factory Arts Center. There will be a closing reception from 3pm to 5pm on Saturday, May 21.

Come see the work in Studio 306, third floor north of the Torpedo Factory Arts Center, in Old Town Alexandria, VA.

About the Work

The idea that we live in rapidly changing times is nothing new. Often, the introduction of new technologies has upended the existing order. The advents of electricity, the light bulb, and the telephone, just to mention a few, have all fundamentally altered the way people lived and saw the world. Having to adjust to rapidly changing times is an exciting, if often unwelcome part of the human condition. The characters depicted in my drawings are in the midst of such times.

With ‘disruptive technology’ a current buzzword, where new or emerging technologies rapidly overtake the old, questions arise about the adoption of powerful new tools for which the promise and the outcome are often quite different.

As we trade durability and dependability for convenience and speed, we may feel we are being unceremoniously ushered into an era of unintended consequences. While we may not fully comprehend these consequences, it behooves us to step back and assess our direction, and acknowledge our anxiety, while we celebrate our new global connectivity.

All works are ink wash on watercolor paper, with original text.

Now showing with Drew Parris,

at The Associates Gallery, (TAG) 3rd Floor

Torpedo Factory, Alexandria, VA

through May 21, 2016.