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COMPANY: WISH YOU WERE HERE   (A SERIES OF PAINTINGS)

In spring of 2020, right as the Coronavirus / Covid-19 pandemic was shutting down the world, I began work on what became this series of paintings. The more I worked, the more I thought I was painting "company" -- visitors we were not allowed in lockdown in many states, but with social distancing neither required nor desired. Here are studio groups as the work goes along, some getting "finished" before others, while I try and figure out what they are all about. They are all brush-drawn India ink and watercolor on 30x22" Arches paper. What appear to be borders around each piece are the backing boards I work on. Farther down a grid of the full series is being posted, with continual updates.

(September 20, 2020)

Click here for FULL SERIES GRID -- 125 images (and counting).
or scroll down to bottom of page

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SOME HIGHLIGHTS:
(Full Series farther below)

Jack Balas, 2020; BOX OF BOOKS (#1932); India ink on paper, 30x22 inches Text: Louis came by the other day to help me carry a box of books over to his house, children's books I had growing up and now his wife was maybe going to put some into her paintings. His backyard is waist-high in purple wildflowers, and as we crossed it he said something about the seeds that I missed. We left the books by Zoa's studio, but when I got home I realized I have the same wildflowers on the kitchen table, and I ran my hand over it and felt all the seeds, tiny gritty grains of sand. I pulled a book off a shelf nearby, opened it, sprinkled seeds between some pages, and put it back to wait.		x  Jack Balas, 2020; FLYING THE FLAG (#1937); India ink on paper, 30x22 inches text: Flying the flag was important to me growing up. I had a pole in the yard, and on holidays I would walk the neighborhood keeping track of who was flying it too, tallying results in what I called "surveys" (the day's weather too). I came across one the other day, and will say that all these years later I still notice when I see someone with a flag, but really in a very different way.
Jack Balas, 2020; THE PRUDENTIAL BUILDING (#1953); India ink and acrylic on paper, 30x22 inches. The Prudential Building was the tallest building in Chicago the year my 4th grade class took a field trip to downtown. I'd never been in a plane before, and it would be years until, but there from the 42nd floor I could see all over the city and even all the way across Lake Michigan, the shoreline, everything. I was smitten. These days when I visit there are buildings way taller, but the Prudential Building, with the Rock of Gibralter on its face- I go in and try to see across to 1964 and me.

COMPANY SERIES GRID
Presented in order (numbered) as they were begun. All pieces are dated 2020, India ink and acrylic on Arches paper, 30x22 inches or 22x30 inches. Click on each image for an enlargement.
(POSTING IN PROGRESS-- A few works are yet to be finished.)

1882   Swirl	1884   a Head	1891   the Talk	1893   Lester Street	1894   Black Yard
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1895   Guy'd	1897 Hunter (Thinking of Winslow and those Adirondacks	1898   Poetry (O Try)	1899   Lieutenant	1900's
1900 Minotaur Private Collection	1902 The Met (MUSE-MUSEUM series)	1903 Backwater	1904 Frame Fame	1905 The Net
1906 Cairn	1907 Guard	1908 And to All a Good Night (Friday)	1909 When It's Time to Write Your Story, This Will Be the Cover	1910's
1910 First Mate	1911  Growl	1912 Woman with Stars and Fireflies	1913   The Count	1914 Harbinger (Igloo)
1915 Fin	1916 Company	1917 Cat	1918 Black Sun	1919 Game's Up
1920's	1920 Graduation	1922 Wish You Were Here (wrestler)	1923  The Late Hour	1924  Home Land: The Javier
1925   Hoops	1926  Home Land: The Ernesto	1927 Backyard	1929 Rain Down On Me	1930's
1930 Siren	1931   No Words Work	1932  Box of Books	1933   Dog (The Vastness...)	1934   Flag Dayze
1935   We The People	1936   Permission	1937 Flying the Flag	1938 Roil	1939   First Day of Summer
1940's	1940 To Be Continued?	1941  Discover America	1942    This Road Does Not End	1943   Out
1944 (Not Yet Titled): Tiger	1945 That Youth Hostel in Canada	1946 Preface	1947 Ship to Shore	1948 The Pedestal
1949    Home Land-- The Tom	1950's	1950   Home Land: The Shane	1951  Home Land: The Dave	1952  Home Land: The Kenny
1953  The Prudential Building	1954   Roll	1955   Promises, Promises	1956 Swath	1957 As The Clock Ticks
1958 Gumball Chute	1959 Blackout 1	1960's	1960 Blackout 2	1961 Campout
1963 Eminent Domain	1964 The Long View	1965 Summit	1966 Ladscape	1967 The Wave
1968 This Rich Narrative	1969 Poets Will Be Named Private Collection	1970's	1970 Bull's Eye	1971 Roofline
1972 Merit Badge	1973 Birthday Boy	1974 Study, Eakins Swimming Hole	1975 Floor of Sky	1976 Refill
1977 Portage	1978 Now Open	1979 Some Other Time	1980's	1980 Mario
1981 Treasury (War Memorial, Honolulu)	1982 Homecoming	1983 September Morn	1984 Moby Dick	1985 Young Man in an Old Story
1986 Able Baker	1987 At the Center of All Beauty	1988 Theme Song	1989 Message	1990's
1990 All Day, All Dave	xx 1992 Letters From Honolulu	1993 Hints of Defiance	1994 Bricklayer	1995 Percolate
1996 LittleLeague	1998 Same Boat, Same Guys	1999 Open Book	2000's	2000 Great Wave Off Waikiki Private Collection
2001 My Book	2002 Election Day 2020	2003 (In progress)	2004 Every Word, Every Letter (2)	2005 Siempre
2006 Looking Back	2007 We Play With Abstraction Every Day	2008 Pilot	2009 Holy Land	2010's
2010 I'm Possible	2011 Antarctica	2012 Let's Drop In Private Collection	2018 Cat (Dog)	2019 Dog (Cat)
2020's	2020 Twenty-Twenty (Sprue)	2021 Twenty-Twenty-One (Next Year)	2022 The Uncertainty of the Poet	2024 I Still Love Horses
2025 Catch (But the story is the one that got away...)	2026 Some Happy Arms	2027 In Progress	2028 The Silver Lining	2029 Next Year In Jerusalem
2030's	2030 Summer Count (Study 1)

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PAINTINGS 2020

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