By John A. Barry And Bill Carmel
E-mail John A. Barry And Bill Carmel
About this blog: John Barry is the creator of trAction Painting, a process/performance genre in which he applies paint to large surfaces with bicycles, roller skates, and other wheeled conveyances. With Bill Carmel and other associates, he has bro...
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About this blog: John Barry is the creator of trAction Painting, a process/performance genre in which he applies paint to large surfaces with bicycles, roller skates, and other wheeled conveyances. With Bill Carmel and other associates, he has brought trAction Painting events to local schools and summer camps. He also creates visual puns. His works are included in several private collections. John has authored/coauthored a dozen books, including Technobabble and Sunburst: The Ascent of Sun Microsystems. John can be contacted at jobarry33@comcast.net or 925-918-7882.
Bill Carmel has 35 years' experience as a professional artist. His fine art paintings, sculptures, and designs are included in private, corporate, and public art collections in the United States, Europe, and Australia. After teaching at Humboldt State University and Southern Illinois University, he returned to the Bay Area, where he remains active in the arts by serving as a co-curator for the Lamorinda Arts Council's Orinda Gallery and by exhibiting throughout the Bay Area. Bill reviews exhibits at SFMOMA, the De Young and Palace of Fine Arts museums, and other Bay Area exhibition venues. Bill can be contacted at billcarmel3@yahoo.com.
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In the nearly three years since I created trAction Painting, my works have been solo efforts, with much appreciated help from assistants. Employing bikes, skates, scooters, walker, and skate wheels as my ?brushes,? I have made paintings ranging in size from 12 x 16 inches to 30 x 15 feet.

For part of that time, a colleague and I have been developing a multidisciplinary curriculum using trAction Painting as a foundation. Next week brings our first proof of concept, when we conduct a 4-day summer camp in East County. We will direct a group of elementary-school kids in producing a 12 x 7-foot canvas, employing the tools noted above, as well as others with wheels. During the project we will relate the process to elements of science and math (viscosity/flow, geometry, for example), kinesiology, and others. We will ask students to keep visual and written journals over the course of the project.
I?m looking forward to this event and plan to keep a running account of our progress in this blog.