The First Bursh Stroke is the Hardest

Work in progress: I finally started this piece about a week ago. The first touch of the brush to the surface is the hardest. I made a bunch of studies first because I'm working with ink on paper now and there's officially no going back to rework anything once it's been put down. I absolutely love the medium though. There's something romantic about the way paint soaks into paper. It demands a delicate application but still wants to be covered just the same.

The piece is about St Teresa, called Lust for Life. This is one of my first sketches, a self portrait as Teresa.

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These are the most recent photos. The painting is so big it's working it's way into the next room!

A Great Reception

Thanks to everyone that came out for the opening reception for Origins. The night was a big success. The show runs through May 7th. If you haven't seen it yet you can visit during Gallery hours http://lopogallery.com/, or there will be a closing reception that I'll be attending Saturday, May 7th from 7p to 11p for anyone that needs a good excuse to come out. A special thanks to Chris Shaher of Lopo Gallery for all of the support!

ORIGINS: Opening April 9th @ Lopo Gallery

Fascinated by mythology and science alike, my new series of paintings depicts an unique combination of religious imagery and scientific concepts. By using prehistoric and primal imagery and applying it to mythological narratives, I am creating a new story of humans part in history and where we will be in the future. We tend to give man much of the credit for such a spectacular universe, where as I see the humans role in it to be small and still very naive. Not being a religious person, I wish to celebrate a new concept, one based on the information we have understanding of at this point in time with the similar attention and appreciation given to mythological figures.

Warhol Reimagined: The New Factory

Anyone like Warhol? Who are we kidding, even if you didn't start out liking his work, after years of seeing his work in the MOMA and all the people that have paid homage to his work you can't help but have a soft spot now.
He didn't even make a lot of his own work but he was extremely influential in the Art world just the same and after painting my first tribute piece for a Warhol themed art show coming up, I feel I got a little closer to the man. He loved bright colors, which are really fun to paint with, and bold straight forward imagery. No wonder his art is so popular, it's an extremely successful formula for painting. I'm sure his background in illustration helped him in this regard. He made art accessible for us all.

Well, now that we've decided that he's an okay guy, let's get to the point. There is a show coming up at Project One Gallery for Warholian.com directed by Mike Cuffe, and you guessed it.... it's Warhol themed! There's a bunch of really great artists, some of whom I'm sure you'll know, so it' worth coming out to see what the hype is all about.

The opening reception is Thursday March 10th from 7pm to 2am.

I recomend you give the link a look and check out some of the artists involved and I hope to see you there!

Warhol Reimagined: The New Factory

(the image is my partcially finished Warhol painting for the show)

Saint Carl Sagan

This next painting series I am amidst is one I think has been a long time coming.

I tend to think that what ever it is floating around in the artists head, be that a recent read book, movie watched, behaviors noticed, there is something of an impression made in your brain. Not saying that the same thing doesn't happen in the non-artist head, just that for an artist it is very important. The reason for that is because an artist will eventually use his or her past impressions to express a current perspective. When drawing from the pool of inspiration one can only access what already exists so spending your life engaged in the things you would like to eventually talk about is a good idea. Maybe simpler put, you are what you eat, likewise you paint what's in your brain.

Relating this back to my new paintings, I have been an amateur science fiction nerd and overall science enthusiast for some time now and I think it's finally found a way to make an appearance in my work. I love Philip K. Dick, I've read over a dozen of his books, seen his movies (including a special screening of A Scanner Darkly where his daughter and the artistic director of the film where present for Q and A!!). My favorite program on NPR is the Science Friday edition of Talk of the Nation where amazing scientist radio nerd Ira Flatow discusses all the hot science issues of the week. I do not believe in god even though my mother is extremely religious (studying buddhist monk), or anything close to an organized religion which leaves me looking to science for many of my unfulfilled questions. And still I am in a place of wonder and amazement with the world I live in, and Carl Sagan is one of those influences that can really make me excited about life, it's patterns, it's complex yet simple and sensible patterns.

This series I will explore my admirations for the epic and sensible science figures and make worlds that question reality like the best science fiction tends to. I end this with a quote from the late great Saint Carl Sagan:

The Cosmos is all that is or ever was or ever will be. Our feeblest contemplations of the Cosmos stir us — there is a tingling in the spine, a catch in the voice, a faint sensation of a distant memory, as if we were falling from a great height. We know we are approaching the greatest of mysteries.

Meat Show at the Medicine Agency

Friday, October 15th, at the Medicine Agency I'm going to be showing new work for a meat themed art show. A theme show is a fun way for me to make art that I might not have made otherwise. It gets me out of my usual train of thought and a like a school assignment, I have to think about art coming from particular perspective. In this instance, the show is about all things meat; livestock, meat products, the industry and culture surrounding meat.

For this series I chose a number of images focusing on a sort of self referencing physical manifestation of the male ego, considering the origin of one species (human), to dominate the other (cattle) with totality and arrogance. These works depict cowboy crotches with a male egocentric phrase accompanying each crotch. The paintings are of "meat", like the slang for a male falis, and it's also a cowboy or rancher raising cattle. By not giving the men faces, it focuses more on the stereotype of what it means to act from a place of manhood, rather than an individual thought or action from a person with a unique life experience. I wanted to explore this idea because so many of the larger manufacturing and corporate entities are run by men. I see this need for domination without regard to others a more male attribute, and one that is very relevant at this time in our environment history.

There is also an attraction and humor in these works that plays with our relationship to the absurdity of this type of egotist behaviour. Is it really a problem or do we care if it is? Are some people more likely to celebrate this than they would be to show concern? Or even, is it just human nature and therefore something to embrace? Well, I haven't any answers yet, only more questions, but if you get a chance to look at the work maybe you can find some of your own answers and fill me in.

Whats next...

Well the show was a success and thank you all who came out to enjoy it with me. My big painting found a home and that makes me so happy because I really did put a lot of work into it. Hooray. I took some pics and brought down the show last Sunday... so whats next?! Well, I'm getting fired up for the next round of paintings. I'm really excited about this series but to be honest my favorite work is always my most recent. I've done most of the research (finding image references and such), and I've gotten a break (finally the weather has broke for my biking to beer picnics), and today I found some amazing vintage frames so I have a few panels to build, then it's back to the lab to hide out for a while. I feel like I'm bursting right now, which is a good feeling. This generally happens after a little break in which I get to replenish my tapped out inspiration and start a new. Then my seams get stressed and I have more ideas then I have ability to paint! What a good feeling to have. And then back into the painting process, and then my energy gets tapped, at points its drained... but we'll deal with that when we have to. Right now it's all about whats coming up. So look out for the next show!