Thanks Alice.

Went to the library today and found a treasure of inspiration. Cruisin' the rows of art books one grabbed my attention - the artwork and story of Alice Neel. I wasn't familiar with her work until that moment. She did these fantastic portraits that capture the models in a very interesting and honest way. She didn't do her first self-portrait until she was 80 years of age. I've done my share of self-portraits all of which I despise. I thought I'd give it another try. Thanks Alice.

Fork

Fork

Fork is finished. Now it's on to collecting the 15 some odd Pathways postcards I painted to use as reference for the rest of the series. I have to take my studioless state into consideration when figuring out how exactly to move forward with this body of work. I don't have the space to stretch large canvases and I don't have the dough to go out and buy enormo pre-built wooden panels. Hmmmm...

Hub Productions: Installment Dos

Okay, more Hub Productions in yo face. Lani, I'm totally snaking your sweet movie viewing setup. Click below for greatness...

Hub Productions

Put a Fork in the Saguaro with Bloom

Saguaro with Bloom

The Prickly Pear desperately needed a companion so I called on the trusty Saguaro to fill the position. This is the 8th work in the Native series. I have 3 more wallpapered panels that are ready to go. Subjects: a Ringtail, Harris Hawk, and Gamblin's Quail.

Fork (in-progress)

I'm making headway on Fork. I usually rely heavily on reference photos but I've pretty much stopped using any for this painting. It's really nice to be working on a piece that is for no one but myself. And the end product doesn't matter to me just the process. Most of my time with this painting is spent layering over past day's work and then pulling bottom layers to the surface. I'm just playing and experimenting and my mood dictates the marks. Oh god, have I become one of those moody, "artsy" types. Luckily it's too hot to wear a black turtleneck.

The Debut of Hub Productions

Answering phones, data entry, staring off into space...what do these things have in common? They are all things that take place in an office cubicle. My cubemate, Lani and I decided to add a task to the list. Movie production. Check it...

Hub Productions

Cheers Charles

Cheers Charles

Good news on the art front. Cheers Charles was accepted to the 2nd Annual Awards Show of What Texas Means to Me, a group show at Austin Artspace. The exhibition runs from July 2nd-August 28th. I thought I’d take a little time to tell you about Charles Elliott, the man in the painting.

Tarleton State University was one of the only schools that was willing to take me and my mediocre grades. The campus is located in Stephenville, TX just about an hours drive from my hometown of Fort Worth. Being an art student in a predominately agricultural school made for an interesting and sometimes brutal experience.

Stephenville was a dry county at the time. If you were in need of a libation and didn’t want to make the 45 min. trek to the nearest liquor store, then you would frequent one of the three bars that Stephenville had to offer. It was in one of these watering holes that I met Charles Elliott. He was the proprietor of The Royal Manor Pub. I began working at Charles’ establishment during my freshman year.

My first meeting with Charles went something like this…

First shift. Nervous as hell. Pokey, the manager, walked me down the bar introducing me to the regulars. “This is Boucher, Skip, Johnny Jones, The Judge”….etc. I come to the end of the line, “This is Charles. He’s the owner”.

Charles extends his hand to me and immediately falls off of his barstool. He crashes to the floor taking the rack of pork rinds and his glass of Wild Turkey and water with him. Wow. He climbs back onto the barstool and demands another Turkey and water from me. What do you do in this situation? You get that man another Turkey and water stat!

Now Charles drank Coors original, Yellowbellies, most of the time but I quickly learned that when he was on the “Turkey” more than likely all hell would break lose in some form or fashion. Hell, I watched that man pull his own damn tooth with a pair of pliers while on the Turkey.

Had some great times at The Pub. After hours we would drink White Russians out of mason jars. And since we were in Erath County, one of the top dairy counties in all of the nation, we used nothing but the best fresh whole milk. Pub motto: No He’n and She’n on the clock. We didn’t serve lunch, we served dinner and we didn’t serve dinner, we served supper. But the most memorable aspect of The Pub was the people. Rest in peace Charles.

Prickly Pear

Here is another one to add to the Native series. A good ole prickly pear cactus. I started a blooming saguaro as well and hope to finish it soon so this little guy has a buddy.

13th Street

My life is starting to settle down a bit after moving to the street named after lucky number 13. Scaling down an entire studio to fit and function in a corner of a 10"x10" sq. ft. room was a challenge. But I have to say that being surrounded by only the bare essentials leaves me with a sense of calm and order which is something I definitely need at this point.

My work is going to reflect my workspace. I have to make due with what I have at the moment and I hope that this experience will show in my work.

Okay, so you would think since I work in a minuscule space I would produce smaller works. It makes sense but oh no. Below is the piece, Fork, that I began in the old studio. I dragged it with me to 13th Street and see it being a long term project. I swear it will be the only large scale piece I work on here. Or will it...

May 2010 Blew

In the past 4 weeks my life has been a total and complete raging shit storm. But don't worry about me people, I crammed a couple of sketches into the chaos. I'm wiping the tears and getting back to work! The dwarf seahorse was a birthday gift for my friend Lani and the bottom sketch is a commissioned piece.

Lani's Birthday Seahorse

Heather's Grey-cheeked Parakeet