In Fives Studies

I would have been a fool not to have taken advantage of the weather yesterday....TOTALLY DELIGHTFUL! My original idea was to make a painting spot in the backyard but after clearing an area I realized it would require a pack mule to lug out my paint gear. Solution...make a sketching spot. (Much more travel friendly).

When working on my In Fives series I began sketching studies on the old mark-filled 24"x36" sheets of butcher paper that I use as drafting table "drop cloths". (5 subjects per sheet of course). I really love the unintentional marks and random notes scribbled on each sheet. Perfect project to break in the ole outside sketch zone!!

I began the study of this Great-horned Owl about a year ago and decided to continue.

Bare-headed Rock Fowl

My first completed sheet of studies for the In Fives series

More Progress

Landscape III stage 4

Landscape III stage 3

Making progress. Finding it wicked difficult to stay focused. I need to chain myself to the easel. I turned off my computer and phone. Rocking the ipod but find myself everywhere but in front of my painting. Dear proper studio, I'm ready to have you in my life. I will take good care of you and show you much attention. Where are you located? How do I get to you? Sigh....

Landscape III Progress

Once again I apologize for the janky quality of the photos. Having said that, here is the progress of Landscape III. This postcard was sent to LP. It is one of the beautiful dirt roads I saw when we went on a ranch tour in WY. You can't see it in the pic but the wallpaper design is in the sky.

Landscape III stage 1

Landscape III stage 2.5

Between Stage 1 and 2 there was a very dark and angry stage which was semi covered in stage 2. (I went ape shit with some charcoal action - it felt good). But that is what this series is about - just different layers being covered or revealed. Not too concerned with the image being seen as "accurate". I truly love getting lost when painting the rocks. It's fantastic and much needed.

Turkey Vulture in Yo Face

Tukey Vulture, oil on vintage wallpaper, 8"x8", 2010

Installation. Check.

So last Saturday I installed my show at Casa Grande Art Museum. The paintings and I hit the road for our hour long journey and we made it without incident. I dragged my loot inside, locked the door, and cranked up the tunes. It was nice to have the place to myself. After 4 hours my mission was complete. Installation. Check. In case you can't make it, below is most of the work...

The Facade of Dorian Gray and The Character of Dorian Gray...the ones that started it all. These 2 pieces were assignments while at ASU. Midway through the project I had a mountain of ideas and painting birds and wallpaper together became my obsession for the past 3 years.

It looks like Spotted Thick-knee in Icebucket and Magical Meat Carpet are not on speaking terms.

The Yellow Wallpaper - in yo face!

Thanksgiving. Gobble. Gobble.

Happy Hour. Cheers.

Bird Brain, Home Alone, and Waiting for the Train: Friday...keeping the print rack of sketches company. So sweet.

Here's the main dude, Bashful. He was chosen to be the frontman for the show. Be brave Bashful!!

Barcelona Chair and Hover are my latest larger scale babies.

A Night in 1982 is one work from my first solo show. (That little kid is yours truly).

These 8"x8" little numbers have been my latest projects. If you don't have the space, tone down the size.

Stay tuned for pics from the opening which is this Saturday, October 16th from 4pm-6pm!!

Fancy Pigeons cont.

Fancy Pigeon IV

Fancy Pigeon III

I can't get enough of these fancy guys! I mean come on, look at them...I have no doubt that they are on their way to pigeon prom. (Mom, do you recognize the top dude? He's a Taganroger Tumbler). There will more to come in this series. I just got back from re-checking out the stellar Extraordinary Pigeon book.

Fancy Pigeons

The below sketches are inspired from this AMAZING book. I mean, Extraordinary Pigeons?! And indeed they are extraordinary.

Fancy Pigeon I

Fancy Pigeon II

Let's face it...pigeons have a bad wrap. They are the dirtbags of the bird world. Or are they? After reading this book (filled with about 200 amazing images) I see pigeons in a new light. They are truly lovely.

DISCLAIMER: SORRY FOR THE POOR QUALITY OF THESE SKETCHES. ALL OF MY TECHNICAL EQUIPMENT IS OFFICIALLY JANKY.

Taking Over the World One Small Town at a Time

Oct. 16th – Nov. 14th

Opening Reception
Oct. 16, 2010
4pm – 6pm

Casa Grande Art Museum
319 W. 3rd Street
Casa Grande, AZ 85122
www.casagrandeartmuseum.org

Where is Casa Grande you ask? Well…Casa Grande is a small and lovely town located pretty much dead center between Phoenix and Tucson. The Museum is a renovated historical home in Casa Grande’s “downtown” area. I’ll have the whole space to myself and will start installing next week.

For me this show, comprised of 25 oil paintings and approximately 40 pastel & charcoal sketches, is a retrospective of sorts. Not that I’m giving up the birds but it’s the last hurrah for this body of work to be shown together…I think.

Receptions aren’t my favorite thing but I know it will be fun. Tryin’ to scrape a crew together to head down to Tucson after the reception for the night. Hotel Congress anyone?

Sketchin'

Barn Owl

Three Bar-shouldered Dove

Black Vulture

Gambel's Quail

Carolina Wren

Pigeon Feather

Bout time I busted out with some sketches. There is nothing that pulls these pieces together other than that I was drawn to their photos in one of my favorite books, The Firefly Encyclopedia of Birds. I'm stocking up sketch-style for my solo show next month at the Casa Grande Art Museum.

Potluck

This post is about a month overdue but better late than never, eh? I met some new artsy peeps in the sorta-neighboring town of Tucson, AZ. I have 6 pieces in a show called Potluck at Fragment Gallery. It’s a great space located in the Warehouse District. The opening reception was on Sept. 4th and fun was had by all. If you happen to be in the Tucson area the show runs through Sept. 25th.

New Stuff!!!

Landscape II

Barn Owl II

Landscape Progress

Stage 4

So, making progress on the ole landscape. I checked out some great national park photography books at the library for some inspiration. I feel a little like a fish out of water with this whole landscape biz. The clouds and mountain-like things are based loosely on images I've found (Yosemite National Park has been a huge inspiration) but I really want to make them my own and capture a feeling rather than a particular image. Now, how the hell do you paint water...

Double Feature

How's this...a cat painting in exchange for haircuts? Yes please. Monica, may I say that you're awesome? Thanks for keeping my hair in check. Now here's your cat...

Cat for Monica

Let's put the paintings aside. It's time for a change in art form, Hub Productions-style. Brace yourself...it's another example of how Lani and I blatantly waste company time. We present...Cocoon.

Killin' Time

Mockingbird for Lynette

Stage 3

So killin' time by making art. It keeps me off the streets. The top image is a juvenile mockingbird for my friend Lynette. It was long overdue in the making but it feels good to mark it off the to-do list. Making progress on the landscape. This is session 3. This one could take awhile...

Gettin' My Paint On

Stage 2

Stage 1

Postcard

Okay...the watercolor postcard inspired oil paintings continue. For those who don't know, I'm doing a series of oil paintings based on watercolor postcards I sent while in Wyoming earlier this year. I collected them and now it's time to get down to bizness. I mailed the above postcard to a Mr. J.K. Ballinger and is the inspiration for this particular painting. As I've said before my space and $ funds are wicked limited so whatever shall I paint my vision on? My solution...a 30"x 80" hollow pocket door found at one of my favorite places, Home Depot. Let's do this.

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