Matt's Studio Apparatus

Black Arm Bands

2012-01-18T09:58:00.002-05:00

Aging infrastructure in DC had produced a water main break in the 1300 block of U Street the evening of the 16th flooding the basement/storage area of Hamiltonian Gallery. You can see the gallery in the upper right of the picture.

The extent of the damage has not been fully assessed. As of last night at around 10pm it was being pumped out. Many, many friends, collegues and I had work stored in that space, so we are all waiting to learn the extent of the damage. The only bright spot is that everything was insured.

This also reshapes the exhibition schedule for the rest of the year. As it stands my show "Buddy Pictures" along with Joyce's show "Passages" has been rescheduled to open on Feb 11 and close March 10, 2012. Our public talk is now scheduled for Feb 22 at 7pm.

image via: PoP

Sharing

2012-01-12T16:41:00.000-05:00

My review (more like a readers' advisory) for Mark Amerika's new book is up at the Art Libraries Society of North America website.

A Heist New Year

2012-01-11T10:05:00.005-05:00

Here is that Heist painting that we are calling the first of 2012. Note the majestic White-Faced Ibis in the foreground.

Studio-wise the last week has been devoted to drawing which has been phenomenally great. Next week we, and by "we" I mean "I", are getting ready for the show at the end of the month. Framing, D-rings, polishing artist statements (ugh/sigh), image checklist and all the other administrative stuff that painter-types truly love.

Rock, Paper, Shoe

2012-01-03T11:52:00.003-05:00

Here is what the last painting of 2011 looks like. Its name is Argument at Reauchambeaux and measures in at 24"x28". It came in just under the wire. This is a quick n' dirty iPhone photo hence the smallness and blurriness.

The first painting of 2012 was The Heist. It's 2012-ness was sort of a cheat because most of the work was done in December. Oh well. Come showtime it will seem like I am a very fast worker.

Let's Internet!

2011-12-28T11:28:00.001-05:00

I must be the last person on Earth to learn about the vast video aggregate on Artforum's website. There are tons of interviews, trailers, panels and even a video for Vladislav Delay (?!). This definitely ranks as one of the 25 best things about 2011. That is, if I bothered with year end lists. 2011 was great. No need to rank events. See you next year.

Near Ancient History

2011-12-17T11:48:00.000-05:00

Here is a painting in progress from about three weeks ago. Many changes have been made. The least of which being that it is nearly finished at this point.

Here is another. Same story.

Sigmoid-o-Scope

2011-12-06T14:09:00.002-05:00

self in front of Os Gemeos mural in Wynwood.

Returned from Scope last Friday anxious to return to painting. I in fact painted some pretty good water today. Meanwhile at the fair a couple of blogs found my paintings to their liking. Warholian.com and artfairblog.
(Sarah Nobel's video works are also in the Warholian slide thingy too.) This is especially flattering given the unbelievable diversity and number of artists represented there. It is going to sound totally biased, but
Hamiltonian's booth had a really unique point of view in the fair context. I was really proud to be a part of it.

I also visited some of the bigger fairs. Like this little one called Art Basel Miami Beach. Have you heard of this one? Me neither. I had my eye on a Jonathan Lasker painting, so I asked to see if there was some reciprocal "anything" with exhibitors from other fairs, which set off an alarm in the exhibitors' hall signaling for

them to turn the (mostly) paintings and sculptures inside out, rendering them un-viewable. A well coordinated
effort to be sure. But seriously folks, Basel is full of the greatest art of now (and yesterday), as well as the specimens who deal and purchase it. Oh yes, the people watching in Miami at this time is unparalleled.

M'kay...I lost focus with this post, so I am going back to researching John Martin. I am sticking a half remembered version of this into a painting currently under way. Best get back to it.

Lifestyle:
Miami: 80 degrees and sunny
DC: upper 50's and raining

**UPDATE**
My traveling companion (and wife) gives a more detailed travelogue here.

Ropa Vieja!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2011-11-17T14:15:00.004-05:00

I will be at Scope Miami in a couple of weeks. If you are there you should stop by booth A-22 to see some paintings. The one pictured above will be there, in addition to three others of this sort. I am excited for this to be sure, but I am double excited for Cuban pastries and ropa vieja. As I typed that my mouth began to water.

While I am waiting for packing materials to arrive, I started a new painting yesterday, and I am really pleased with the underpainting. I am doing this grisaille thing to make my life easier later. At least I think that that is what will happen.This painting is all intersecting gestures. I have no idea what the subject could be. The other panel that is waiting for paint is definitely going to be a heist picture. It will similarly have intersecting whatnots, and there will definitely be something getting stolen.

I realized that the last post didn't include any details of my glorious artist lifestyle. Sorry about that. The "seeds and stems" edition is as follows:

Eating: Kale
Drinking: Virginia Gentleman but thinking about Four Roses
Listening: Superpitcher, Bach, Poulenc almost anything I have a CD of because my iPod is deceased.
Shoes: Vans without laces
Watching: La Danse (awesome documentary about ballet at the Paris Opera)

Cold, Cold Revenge

2011-11-15T12:34:00.003-05:00

Hi There.

Above is an un-color corrected image of a painting that I just made. My lights have grown yellow with age which is a personal problem that can be solved with a little trip to the tungsten store. Anyway, the point is that the title to the above painting is...Revenge at Narsaq. It is oil on panel and measures 11" x 19".

Other recently completed paintings can be found here in their heretofore yellowy goodness. Next look out for a "heist" painting, a "gambling" painting, and maybe a burning city. I only effectively have two months before the next show, so we will see how far I get. I predict all-nighters, but I hope it doesn't come to that.

Dispatches

2011-10-27T10:02:00.003-04:00

This is what the studio looks like right now. None of the paintings shown here have real titles yet, of course.

On the wall at the back we have the "blood rainbow" painting on the left and the "drapery fight" on the right. On the easel is the just completed "iceberg hunters" painting. This one is very horizontal in that I didn't hem in the image by trees or foliage or clouds. I was also toying with weather.

I may have paraphrased this John Constable passage before, but I think about it so often while painting weather. While lecturing at the Royal Academy he prescribed that one should be able to determine the weather based on your clouds. Beyond just "cloudy" I assume. Anyway, I actually don't aspire to that at all, but I like the extremity of the statement. You can find the lecture in Hershel Chipp's Theories of Modern Art. I probably mis-remembered it. You might want to check.

As far as a lifestyle:
Eating: Sweet Potato Gratin
Drinking: Redemption Rye (makes a great Old Fashioned)
Wearing: a cape
Listening: Disco Zombies re-issue "Drums Over London"
Reading: remixthebook by Mark Amerika (Because I have to.)

Road to Pastrana

2011-10-07T11:03:00.005-04:00

Above is an image of a work by Angela de la Cruz. She is part of the reason why the Passion of St. George quadryptic took the shape that it did. She was on my mind again because I was blanking on her name in a recent conversation.

In studio news I have also been focusing on a painting with a rainbow in it. It is a decapitation parable. I am also working on a small panel painting with a glacier and icebergs. I have been kicking this idea around for a while. It is sort of a revenge painting. The third painting is barely out of underpainting stage, but I am very excited to work on it eventually. It depicts an attack upon some encroaching drapery. I am sort of thinking about these paintings as "buddy pictures" a la Bob Hope and Bing Crosby. Sort of.

Reading: Stealing the Mystic Lamb by Noah Charney (Art heist history about the Ghent Altarpiece - the most stolen masterpiece in history apparently.)
Drinking: Stoudts American Pale Ale
Wearing: Levis and an orange wristwatch
Eating: Yes, please.
Future looking: Pastrana Tapestries, De Kooning, and hopefully Per Kirkeby

Engaged Column

2011-09-30T16:28:00.001-04:00

I am in the midst of three paintings. I have basically just started all three, so they seem like exciting prospects at the moment. As they wear on this will certainly change. I will grow to hate them and then love them again. That is, if all goes well. Anyway, like I said, I am studio bound for the next 4 months.

I thought that maybe in the interim, while I am not taking the time to post images and profundities, I might like to turn this blog into a "lifestyle" blog a la GOOP. Because everyone is dying to know about the diet and exercise and fashion regimen of a painter guy, right? Fun fact: Pontormo recorded his meals, visits, BM's, in his diary. So, he was like the GOOP of the Mannerists. I think I will call my new column Mattsylvania. Or not.

Alright, here goes:

Today I am wearing red socks. My favorite red socks. The pair that I was married in, in fact. This is important to note because I have two pairs of red socks.

Last night after painting I had a turkey burger with a glass (two glasses actually) of some oaky chardonnay that I can't remember the name of. Perhaps next time I will only have one glass so that I can remember the name of the vintner. I tend to not go for chardonnay because of this oaking problem, but it did complement the burger nicely. I recently learned that Barbousville has a really nice, subtle chardonnay. Zero oak.

I watched one sitcom after that. It was very bad. I have a pretty low tolerance for teevee.

Stay tuned for more inspiring lifestyle news!

Mauled Paw

2011-09-08T11:20:00.000-04:00

I have been sidelined by injury for the past week therefore studio activity has been light. Even still work has begun in earnest on a small city being attacked by clouds and lightning, and another, bigger city that is on fire.

Once my left hand is back in action I can stretch up the two new cowboy paintings that are also in order. It is going to be a very busy fall/winter, so it was nice knowing you. Maybe one day again we can meet up for cocktails or something. March perhaps.

Fanstastic Four

2011-08-22T17:26:00.002-04:00

I just finished the Passion of St. George (that may not be its official title) quadriptych. Does it count as one painting or four, I wonder? As soon as I figure out how to photograph such a thing I will post it here.

In the meantime I have started a couple of paintings of burning cities. Little bit of mapping, little bit of carnage, geometry, lightning, fire and smoke.

Ongoing Continued

2011-08-10T09:17:00.010-04:00

Here friends is a Pileated Woodpecker (above) that is, once finished, going into the St. George quadryptic. Here also is a cowboy painting called "Death Banquet"(below). You can see "Death Banquet" along with some newer paintings if you come to the New(Now) exhibition at Hamiltonian on Saturday. Actually it runs through September 10. So I suppose that you could see it any time between the 13th and then, but the drinks will only be served on Saturday. Just sayin'.

Some Goings On

2011-07-27T09:01:00.000-04:00

Finished but without a name. Little Flaming Town? Fire on Smile Island? Lady Skydiver Sets Town on Fire? Oh, I just can't decide.

Ongoing:

...and...

Breakin' Too

2011-07-23T10:48:00.002-04:00

I finished a little painting of an island city on fire! I like painting those little towns in paintings so much that I just decided to paint one all by itself, then set it on fire. It also has a little bit of a street layout that you can see in the way that the buildings are situated. I think I am going to do a bunch of these.

I also started a small cowboy painting. I didn't really think that would happen, but last Monday morning it just popped out. It is on panel which I have never worked on before. I found a whole pile of them in a nook when I moved into my studio. And now I have come to believe that oil paint was engineered -probably by a superior Martian race- specifically for applying to wood panels. It is pretty amazing. One can really get all of their old master ya-yas out. As you may have intuited this painting is going really well. But they all do at the beginning until I start pressuring myself to actually make it good.

The multi-paneled "dragon/St. George/target practice" painting is going less smoothly, but it is at that pressure stage mentioned above. Okay, okay...it's the water. I love painting it, but it usually takes me three or four tries to get it right.

Whats With All That Beattitude

2011-07-02T14:25:00.001-04:00

The above Gregory Gillespie painting is at NPG within the "Capital Portraits" show. Do yourself a favor and go see it. Accept no substitutions. Do not let pixels speak for it.

I saw a show of his paintings at Forum about a year ago. That was the first time I had ever seen such a concentration of his work. He quickly became a patron saint of my studio. His paintings mostly range from weird to nuts, all contained within a sensibly structured and depicted tableau. More or less. Also the paint is handled in about every conceivable manner.

I also started reading A Fine Disregard by Kirk Varnedoe. I should have read it ten years ago while a grad student. If, per chance, you haven't read it either I highly recommend it. It is out of print, but I am sure that you can track one down.

Have a good 4th.

Kickstander

2011-06-28T14:29:00.003-04:00

<p>&amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;br&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;br&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;br&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;br&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;br&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;br&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;br&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;br&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;br&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;br&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;br&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;Kickstander&amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;gt;</p>

I have discovered the wonder of making micro donations to art projects through Kickstarter. And on that note, above is a project that I think you should donate to. This is for obvious reasons, but reason number two is that the show is going to be awesome and you can help. Plus one of the rewards includes a gin soaked private reception! How could that be a bad thing?

It is also up on Youtube and Vimeo if you prefer those formats. But all roads lead back to Kickstarter.

It's Official

2011-06-28T12:26:00.000-04:00

I am a 2011 Hamiltonian Fellow. Now lets have a cigarette party!

Blitzkrieg Books

2011-06-25T13:26:00.001-04:00

In a fit of inspiration, here are the books that I will be taking with me on and to trains, buses, hovercraft, subway, weddings, beaches, and skateboards this summer.

1. Philip Guston: Collected Writings, Lectures, and Conversations
2. Super Sad True Love Story - Gary Shteyngart
3. Invisible Cities - Italo Calvino ( This has been on my list every summer, but this summer is different I swear!)

Ummm...yeah that's it. I am a pretty slow reader. Plus I have to get cracking on some paintings. I know...excuses, excuses. And -FYI- 2/3, (.66 for the rest of the world) of these books can be found at your local public library. The one in DC anyway.

Good Question

2011-06-20T14:45:00.002-04:00

I gave a talk over the weekend at the Luce Foundation Center that by all accounts went well. I spoke convincingly about Uncle Jack Dey being as masterful as Duccio. I didn't really say that, but there are some similarities that I thought were interesting. But the funniest question of the day came after a few minutes of talking to the audience about my own paintings. This old guys who reminded me of Lloyd Bridges blurts out, "Is there a market for this kind of thing?!" I had a great time.

Saturday's performance of Perspectivoyage went much better than the first. There are only two more performances, one on the 26th and another on the 2nd of July. My old friend John Lee was there, and he incidentally, is giving a performance called "Feed Me" at WPADC on Thursday.

New Stu-Stu-Studio

2011-06-16T09:42:00.001-04:00

Let me give you a tour. What we see straight ahead, and on the left wall is the working area. There is another wall to work with on the right side being obscured by the Perspectivoyage backdrop and props which have now been moved to the Source Theater. Out of frame on the left is some storage and more floor space for sitting in front of my new oscillating fan.

On the left wall in the background you can see what is happening with the "Name Writ in Dragons" painting. That is just the working title by the way.

Here is a review of Perspectivoyage from the CityPaper yesterday.

"Must See" They Say

2011-06-07T13:56:00.000-04:00

Here is an image from our design run last week. The backdrop is about half complete at that moment. I sort of like how shabbily it is hanging there. Also the light situation is about right for that moment in the performance.
The image came from the Source Theater Festival tumblr.

Conservative Agenda

2011-06-04T10:46:00.004-04:00

As you have probably heard Kansas has done the unthinkable. Governor Sam Brownback has done away with its Art Commission (a staff of five and budget of $689,000). Un-fucking-believable. I mean, seriously it isn't even a matter of taste as ~~the Shropshire Slasher~~ Brownback seems to think. It isn't a dogs playing poker versus Picasso thing. Worse yet he is trying to set an example.

This, to me, is the same chauvinism that led to the Wojnarowicz fiasco and keeps an important segment of the population away from the arts. As if ~~poopypants~~ Brownback is saying, "it's for those people, not you and me." Sort of like how cults/mafia/gangs work, no? Like, "We together are a family and them over there are against you/us. Let's us circle the wagons against the tyranny of creative culture."

This is complete bullshit because art is actually available for everybody at every turn. How many buildings do you see in a day, or internet hours logged? Do you drive a car, or sit in a chair, or read a magazine? All designed by someone or a committee of someones using a combination of system and intuition. You, dear audience, just have to show up. Actually you don't even have to do that since some quantity of artistic expression is all around anyway. Unfortunately this legislation makes the innovations that bring about such things a lot more difficult in KS.

Anyway, I am slowly taking procession of my new studio in NE. Whenever I get re-settled I will have you over for drinks.

More news on the way...

Steady As She Goes

2011-05-05T14:15:00.000-04:00

The Source Theatre Festival piece has a name! That name is Perspectivoyage: The Mann Bobb McCauley Experience. We have worked out some "interesting and artistic" dance moves that will blow your mind. The tone of the piece is as irreverent as the title suggests.
Also associated with this project is a headache originating with Utrecht for supplies for the backdop and props. This I think is resolved, if "Utrecht Melissa" is to be trusted. She sounded nice on the phone. Which is just what she wanted me to think! My order status has been "processing" for about three weeks and the clock is ticking.

I finally got my head around a cowboy banquet painting that will be huge (within reason). Coming in 2012.

I finally devised some ways and means and orientations for the fragment-y, multi-paneled painting. It is probably only going to be a triptych or a quadriptych the first time out. I might actually go for the full furlong (660 feet) in the next year.

Stereoscopes are in the back of my mind. Not much else I can say about that...

I also have good news that I am not entirely at liberty to divulge. It is more fun that way, but several of you already know what it is. I also have to keep a lid on it out of respect for others. There will be a public announcement later this month I think.

Oh, jeez! I just remembered I am talking about Uncle Jack Dey (pictured) and my own work at the Luce Center next month, so I have some homework to do.

He's Not Ageist, He's My Brother

2011-04-18T14:39:00.005-04:00

In continuing stereo-stuff news, I have devised a way to mitigate the need for stereo goggles, glasses, or some other stereo viewing devise. I still need to mess around with it, but my thought is basically to animate two stereo images and loop it, hoping that they fuse visually. Here's hoping iMovie can shrink the frames enough. That means that there is yet another expense for the project. Final Cut Pro and a new computer to drive it. Oy!

As for my other studio stuff, I have stretched up some panels to continue the furlong painting. I don't think that I will be able to actually get to a furlong (660 feet), but we shall see. It is more of an exquisite corpse painting with myself, though the images are different formats and depths, but each is a continuation of the other. Makes sense right?

I am also doing an 18'x18' painting and some props for the Source Festival as my contribution to the Artistic Blind Dates. I have been looking at a lot of circus advertising, illuminated manuscripts, and Picasso in order to summon up some courage. I am pretty excited to not be myself for this one, while being entirely myself to a great degree. I should also say that I am helping develop the actual narrative as well and we have all kind of agreed that reason is overrated. More or less.

In case you are still reading this, I visited the Terry Winters talk on the most beautiful Thursday yet of 2011. He is one of my favorite living painters, therefore I really liked his talk. It of course centered around mediation of images, information systems, and cetera. It was interesting, though, to hear him speak about "computer systems". That term to me suggest his outsider status to a point of view that I completely take for granted. That view being from one more native to this information technology environment. Though I should say that I was born in the VHS era, rather than the Internet era. My point is that there are more specific terms that we of a particular age deploy in order to express sensations, systems, platforms attributes and implications of data that aren't foreign to people inside of this demographic. It's like saying "mixtape" instead of "playlist". I am not trying to disparage his talk which was thoughtful and insightful. I really appreciate his attention to visual textures and interference patterns and how those things comment on the world in which we live. I also appreciate that he inserted a Deleuze title, "Logic of Sensation" when describing what he was after. Very nice indeed.

Otherwise Nam June Paik is in the East Building Tower at the National gallery. Talk about a statement about mediated images vs. reality. He had it in spades. The works filling the tower aren't the schizoid pieces. Rather, they demand attention in the opposite way, with quietude.

Caption This Cleaver Drawing...

2011-04-13T10:28:00.000-04:00


...or make a better drawing. The more offensive the better!

Training Montage

2011-04-04T10:42:00.001-04:00

Here is the first panel in the "George Target Practice/Training Montage" furlong that I will be carrying on with probably for the rest of the Spring and Summer. I am not sure if I am completely finished with it yet. There were some elements that I had intended to put in this one, but I almost think this painting is full enough. Any more and it would seem like "Italian radio" as one of my teachers used to say. That is, completely unnecessary decoration, or a little overstuffed. I might call that "Baroque Radio" myself.

In looking at it right now though I think I need another spear to lead one out of the painting into the subsequent paintings.

Theoretical Morass With More Caffine

2011-04-01T11:54:00.002-04:00

Some important house keeping:
Amanda Jiron-Murphy is up for a KOI grant. You should come and support her and the exhibition that she is curating in July with Philly's own Janell Olah. (image above) It'll blow your mind if you let it. Details are here.

So, it is April which is the month when I typically read the most poetry. Last year I spent a lot of time reading Robert Lowell. The Dolphin was a particularly favorite volume. Those poems to me sounded like Hammershoi paintings look.Which may not be for everyone.

I am starting to generate some ideas for this Source Festival Artist Blind Dates. The short of it is that I was "blindly" teamed up with Dave Bobb (actor) and Lucy McCauley (choreographer). I am basically in charge of set design and prop making. Oh! and I will be painting on the performers as the narrative unfolds. Not in the really bad body painting, Spring Break Daytona way -no offense if you are one who paints on people- but in a sort of illustrative way. There will be a broken knee somewhere in the performance which I am very much looking forward to. Again, in an illustrative way and not in the Chris Burden way.

The stereoscope drawings are on hold momentarily. I am stuck with how someone would be able to view them. The main hang up is fact that for every way in which the drawing is mediated -LED projection, glasses, cross-eyed, the two drawings without any optical mixing- produces a different visual effect. Which shouldn't be a surprise if you think about it, and is actually the point for the whole endeavor. But how do I wrap this all up into a tidy one shot experience? Maybe I don't and that's that.

I also need to call my parents. You probably should too.

Miles to Go Before I Sleep.

2011-03-25T10:47:00.000-04:00

This is where we find ourselves.

We Don't Need No Dispatches

2011-03-23T09:17:00.004-04:00

Still hacking away at the "enter the dragon" painting as I have been calling it. Typically, I have no images of it to show, but at this stage I think that that is for the best. The clouds in this one are quite a bit more Dutch. Not Hobbema worthy, but a bit fluffier all the same. Generally speaking, this painting is a sort of meta-painting. Then again, aren't they all.

Inspiring things lately have included: the Cloister Apocalypse (above) and the Unicorn Tapesties. Oh, and infographics! Here is an infographic aggregator for your viewing pleasure.

Saw the Blinky Palermo retrospective at the Hirshhorn last week. I really liked the oddly shaped "landscape" paintings. Reminded me a lot of Tuttle. I liked the visual effects of the smaller groupings of hard edged paintings too. They were broadway boogie woogie-ing allover. Generally the show seems to benefit from a curator led contextualization of the work. I am not sure that those geometrical panels would be able to support themselves without the rest of the paintings charting a path for them.

Oh Em Gee

2011-03-08T12:07:00.001-05:00

via BMD of course

Freedom Isn't Free

2011-03-01T18:20:00.001-05:00

I sent off the last grant or exhibition proposal today. February was pretty much devoted to this cause. Now that I have my life back I am going to use it. How, you ask? Well, by quarantining myself into a little white cube to make some paintings, of course! Actually one painting, which I am about half way through. A painting which has some really good green going through it too. I will post some sort of image soon. It is sort of a "taking the piss out of St. George" painting.

Disclaimer: the above image is not St. George

Busy Api

2011-02-17T11:25:00.001-05:00

Here's why we aren't talking to eachother:

-Artistic Blind Date for the Source Festival. More on that as it develops.
-Too many grant and project proposals to mention right now. All due by March 1. Still not even clear on which project to pursue for each. One proposal is for painting, one not. Decisions decisions.
-Started a painting that I am very excited about and may have multiple panels. Haven't entirely decided.
-Ongoing experiments with small scale stereography. Who knew that 3" x 3" drawings could be such problems. The particulars of transferring then shifting the drawings are a bee-otch. And that is pretty much the whole gig.
-Art + Coffee Talk at the Luce Foundation Center sometime in June 2011. On Sunday the 19th if memory serves.

Too Many Cowboyz

2011-02-08T10:00:00.001-05:00

This painting still doesn't really have a title. Maybe something like "Acupuncture Pitchfork Style", or "Jump Rope Beneath the Old Grass Tree", or "Founding of the District of Columbia". Just kidding about that last one. I think I will go with "Acupuncture..."

It's a little painting, 11 x 14 inches. Oil on linen over panel.

Done.

Damsels in the Stream

2011-01-29T10:10:00.000-05:00

The clouds in the "jump roper" painting went haywire yesterday, becoming whiter than white. I wonder if the general snowiness around here has something to do with that? Given the time that I have actually had to work on this painting lately, it is going along very smoothly. If by "smoothly" we mean the old "should I or shouldn't I abandon this one" routine.

In parallax viewing news I had a great experience with two windows in my apartment yesterday. From across the room they look like a stereograph. So, I was standing at my kitchen crossing my eyes and KABOOM! it works. This is relevant because of some scale questions I was having an internal debate about. I can make a wall sized drawing that you will have to stand twenty feet away from to view. Aren't you lucky?

And for no reason at all here is a Sodoma painting that I enjoy from the National Gallery.

Distracted

2011-01-25T14:36:00.000-05:00

Dennis Oppenheim - one of my very favorites from student days- passed away last Saturday.

In the meantime, while I am fiddling with my stereoscope glasses -that don't work nearly as effectively as crossing my eyes- watch above as Tony Oursler talks about stuff.

Here We Go Dimensional

2011-01-21T11:00:00.001-05:00

Minor successes this week in the sterescope department. I got a simple shape to project at an angle in front of some puffy clouds. I am working on graph paper which is so regular that everything projects up from it. But the grid is required to keep everything in the right place. More complex subjects coming up.

The "pulse" that I was talking about last time actually comes from a kind of double exposure, or incongruity between the right and left image. This will come in handy later I think.

I also resumed the "jump roper" painting. It is coming along nicely, nicely thank you. Might be that last one for a little while. There are a couple of other paintings that I have been meaning to get to. It has also been three solid years of cowboy on cowboy action, so I think that it's time to diversify.

Technological Spectacles

2011-01-18T10:28:00.046-05:00

My stereoscopic glasses will be here soon so let the perceptual mayhem begin! I found instructions for making stereograph drawings from the 40's written by a crystallographer. He used this method to illustrate atomic structure. The resulting diagram is really interesting, but his language is impenetrable. So I am still sort of doing it trial and error. But as Kings of Convenience sang, "failure is the best way to learn."

One thing I have already noticed in my tinkering with drawing stereo images is that there is a lot of light pulsation that results from optical mixing. I am sure that I'm doing it wrong, but it is pretty cool. This pulse -it's a lot like the pulse that you find in the intersections of Mondrian's black lines- is sort of what gives this sensation of looking at a dimensional rendering even if it is not stereoscopic. It's hard to describe, but the pulsing is allover the image. I will post both successful drawings and failures soon-ish. However, unless you already have your stereoscope devises you will have to view them cross eyed. I don't recommend doing this at your place of business unless you are alone.

Here Today, Gone Tomorrow

2010-12-27T16:57:00.001-05:00

Here is that Lightning Attack I promised. It was either going to be titled Lightning Attack or Allegory of the Making of This Painting, which sounds way too meta for me, but does pretty much sum up what it was like to work on this one. I finished it a little less that a week ago. Last painting of 2010!

Now vacation. I already miss my studio, but I have to take a break. Union mandate.

...And In Closing...

2010-12-21T16:52:00.002-05:00

...I finished a painting. It is an odd painting called "Lightning Attack". In it you will find fire, lightning, some visual dissonance, and an upside down cowboy. I took a picture of it, but it is completely unusable so you may have to wait for it to appear on the "official" web jam over here.

In other news I have a little cowboy painting going (the jump roper one). Though I am not going to get to any of it until I get back from Treasure Island in January. I am also going to get moving on the stereoscope drawings too. The R+D for that one will probably be my focus for a while.

Censorship is For the Fearful (But You Already Knew That)

2010-12-08T10:51:00.001-05:00

National Portrait Gallery Protest from Michael Dax Iacovone on Vimeo.

Here is the video that Mike Iacovone shot of Mike Blasenstein wearing an iPad bearing "A Fire in My Belly" at the National Portrait Gallery. Good for the Mikes for rubbing SI's spineless noses in it. Bravo!

Van Eyck is a Douchebag

2010-11-19T14:08:00.001-05:00

I have been working on this window. Which is actually a feature of...

...this painting.

Meanwhile I have a little painting going of an ominous cloud that will eventually include some lightning and ominous water. It looks like van-art at this point. I can't decide whether or not I like that.

This is a painting that I jotted down yesterday. It looks like somebody is going to get whacked!

Not Painting, but Still Awesome

2010-11-12T09:52:00.001-05:00

"One of the best..." according to Blake Gopnik. Remember that show I was telling you about? The Free Space one that I helped coordinate? It was reviewed in the Washington Post while I was painting water and clouds.
KER-POWW!!!!!

Plannin' an a Paintin'

2010-11-10T10:03:00.001-05:00

I have been busily coordinating the Free Space installation at the MLK Library with Flashpoint since I got back from LA. The show opened after an intense amount of facilities and communications wrangling, and we had a reception despite being bumped by Eleanor Holmes Norton. Actually, not bumped by her, but by a scheduling mishap. The installation itself transcends any petty frustration I may have experienced. It looks great. I expect you to see it, and I expect you to forward complements to Mike and Billy unless you have already done so.

Even better you should participate in the installation here (don't forget), and we are having a panel discussion with the artists next Tuesday the 16th.

Now back to painting. I have two uninterrupted studio days! (starting tomorrow) Then Honfleur's Foto Week stuff. But for that I merely paint during the day then stand around and soak up drinks.

Tres Thing-like Things

2010-11-01T20:59:00.000-04:00

I have very recently returned out from under the weather and I am excited about a few things:

Stanley Lewis

Peter Saul retrospective

Nozkowsi

This is all for now because I am really busy making a new painting. Okay, okay...I just started it today. You got me.

Cross Eyed Learning

2010-10-22T12:33:00.001-04:00

Drawing exile turned into a drawing/research/canvas stretching exile. In fact I had a breakthrough where I was able to "cross view" a stereograph sans stereoscope. Initially I got a weeks worth of headaches trying to get my brain to adjust to this way of viewing and concentrating on a specific thing within the total and scrambled field of vision. This is important because I can test some drawing experiments that I am just starting to make. That's right kids! Stereoscopic drawings from imagination, and not from observation which complicated things a bit. But I like the idea of having a drawing completed in the brain rather than in front of the gaze. I don't know how far it will go, but it will be something to tinker with this winter. When/if they become exhibit-able I won't put you through the cross-eye gaze. I'll spring for some stereoscopes. Plus expecting an audience to look at drawings cross-eyed is dumb. A lot like those awful stereograms where Spiderman would emerge out of this crazy fractal thing.

Also I am considering building my medival hill towns in Google's baby-CAD for use in paintings. It's pretty cool.

Drawing Exile

2010-10-12T09:25:00.000-04:00

Here is "Cigarette Party". Now it's on to a week of self imposed drawing exile. "Drawing Exile" would be a good title for something.

Happy Columbus Day

2010-10-11T19:02:00.001-04:00

This is a drawing I made on mylar. I had some laying around from the stencils I had made for the Cinecitta paintings. What a strange substrate it is.

I can't really decide whether this "flag" or "ship" is sinking or rising. I suppose that it depends on ones' general disposition, but in the end it is in fact doing both. This is also the outgrowth of my Melville obsession. Have we talked about that yet?

Utah Saints

2010-10-04T08:43:00.000-04:00

For the moment, until I get a proper images taken and website updated, my new work is over at the Gallery of Mann. I am still building it so stay tuned/bare with me. All of the theoretical dreck will stay on this blog of course.

Also Happy Feast Day of St. Francis who happens to be one of my favorite saints. And it is not only because my birthday falls on his feast day, but because he settled in Assisi (after passing through Corciano) which I aspire to one day. If it is of any interest, St. Sebastian is my favorite depicted Saint. Particularly this one.

It's Win, WIN!

2010-09-22T20:18:00.000-04:00

This is the "Bouquet Fight" painting. It was finished shortly before I jetted off to CA for cocktails and Mexican food. It measures 14 x 18 inches and is made out of oil paint on linen over panel. This panel business is the best for small paintings I have found.

To me it looks like one of the figures is playing and the other is out for blood.

Let's Have a Cigarette Party!

2010-09-20T10:21:00.000-04:00

Back from LACMA

2010-09-13T20:47:00.003-04:00

Hi. I am here again resuming studio stuff. While away I saw the Baldessari retrospective at LACMA, and some Richard Serra action. Also at LACMA. Baldessari I enjoyed tremendously. Interacting with the Band made me want to fall over rather than think about the grace of Borromini. Some passages are pretty awesome to experience actually. I found the same with Gehry's Disney Concert Hall. The exterior spaces are pretty disorienting, but that is what it's all about. Upsetting conventional order.

So here I am,back to it, and not able to figure out why I can't get a sidecar at 3pm anymore.

Vacanza

2010-09-04T10:13:00.002-04:00

Here are the professional installation views courtesy of Brandon Webster. They appear here in reverse order.

I finished the "Bouquet Fight" painting and began another (small) painting. The new one is pretty wonky in a good way.

De-installing the show on Sunday, then zooming off for a vacation. It has been 1 1/2 years since I have taken one. I feel like now is a good time to step away for a week. I will be missing openings in DC and Philly on the weekend of the 10th, but c'mon!, a swim-up bar in Southern California sounds like the best medicine for me right now. AND it is more pleasurable to look at art during normal business hours. Which I will do upon my return.

Friday Grab Bag

2010-09-03T09:55:00.005-04:00

Pink Panel @ Flashpoint with Matthew Mann from The Pink Line Project on Vimeo.

Here is the excerpted panel discussion from last Wednesday. Without all of the ahhs and umms it comes in at a lean 17 minutes. I was actually going on for, like, an hour. I was also properly dressed in this one.

Send your prayers up to Matisse, Delacroix, Piero della Francesca, or whoever you pray to for the Phillips Collection.

The City Paper "art picked" the EOR show that I am in. It closes today.

Believe It Or Not

2010-09-01T14:12:00.001-04:00

My friend Brad (who has a curiously vast knowledge of images) pointed this painting out to me after seeing the Cinecitta show. He thought I purposefully sited Moreau's "Giotto" in the "Sheep Over Vasari" painting. Alas I did not.

Oh! and you only have a week left to see the show. If you don't believe me, then believe the City Paper.

I Learned My Glare From Paddington Bear

2010-08-27T09:08:00.004-04:00

The panel discussion by all accounts went well. I have to say that I get so nervous doing them that my short term memory totally blanks out. I almost forget what I am saying as I say it. Thankfully the audience and other panelists were there to keep me on track. Mostly. There will be video of it at some point, I think, so you can see my "dear in the headlights" stare.

So back to the studio for me...

I bought a #20 bright brush for the future (some non-cowboy) paintings which I am almost ready to make. I also bought a new sketchbook because my "copy paper folded over with a couple of staples in the middle" just isn't cutting it anymore. It had fallen apart three times, so I had to suck it up and give Rhodia my $5. Which I am okay with because it is orange.

Free Beer!

2010-08-23T17:40:00.001-04:00

Pink Line Project is hosting a panel discussion on Wednesday from 6-8pm, featuring myself as well as such DC Artworld luminaries as Jamie Smith Phd., Andrew Wodzianski, WE ARE SCIENCE!, all moderated by Philippa Hughes. It should be an interesting talk/panel/thingy. We've got the high and low and in between. WE ARE SCIENCE! is going to do -what I anticipate will be- an hilarious interpretive exercise with the audience. There will be beer available throughout.

A Not Too Embarrassing Video That Surfaced

2010-08-19T10:09:00.002-04:00

from TheStudioVisit.com.

'Sup

2010-08-17T17:26:00.000-04:00

Review from DCist. I like how he included the source image for the "Christmas Island" painting. Pretty insightful review, says I.

No Real Controversy

2010-08-16T15:58:00.002-04:00

As a result of the ultra-red reproduction from the East of the River issue, there were complaints of some sort coming in to Honfleur about what the image was saying about Anacostia. Like, glorifying guns and booze, or insinuating that the community is somehow consumed by guns and booze or something. I haven't heard the voicemails yet. It would be cool to be able to embed them as mp3s. I can't wait to hear them.

In actual painting news my little "bouquet fight" painting is coming along nicely. There is a lot of good cloud action in this one.

Released Press

2010-08-13T09:48:00.004-04:00

WaPo
MidCity DC
And a detail of the "Molotov" painting appears on the cover of East of the River where it is called "Molotov Slide". I actually like that title too. Like it's a dance or something.

Some Install Views

2010-08-10T12:46:00.017-04:00

A professional photographer is coming by to take some real pictures of the show (without tools in the foreground to be sure). I tried to take some images of each painting myself, but had forgotten my polarizing filter. There were hotspots for days!

In studio news the clouds in my "bouquet fight" painting look...well, not great. They are redeemable me thinks, but it will be no easy victory.

Back to Earth

2010-08-09T15:15:00.001-04:00

Here are some images that were taken during the installation at Flashpoint.

Otherwise the reception was a complete success and many friends traveled from points north, south, and across town in order to attend. I ended up talking continuously for three hours. It was very exhausting. Exhilarating, but exhausting.

There was also a little mention of my two paintings from the EOR4 show over at Culture Mob.

While I Am Adjusting the Lights...

2010-08-05T13:51:00.001-04:00

Here is a painting that I started last week. This is after the first couple of hours. It is of a bouquet fight that I had thought would be bigger, but dear reader, I don't really want to make a big painting right now. You understand.

Here is the Sinking of the S.S. Backhuysen. I finished it about two weeks ago. You may recognize it from the EOR show, where on the wall label it is referred to as "Untitled". But you know the real story.

Installation Day the Third

2010-08-04T15:50:00.000-04:00

This is the "palette" I was using to touch up bits of each painting. They don't teach you this in art school. Aluminum foil packets of color, a clipboard that is totally paint encrusted on the reverse, and tape that indicated problems (which I am not showing you for fear that you will show up and know where I had to make repairs).

Lunch break for "Palette".

Day the Second, of Installation

2010-08-03T19:34:00.002-04:00

The paintings are fully hung at Flashpoint already. My secret weapon came by and said, "Here, hold this pencil, and when I say 'I need a pencil' you hand it to me." To which I said, "ok." Strangely he hung the paintings and never once asked for a pencil. I might have to include other peoples' work into my graph. I also learned that I am only slightly better than Rothko when it comes to building stretchers. That is not saying very much apparently.

It's starting to look like a real show now. Who knew?

Until I can post images, please enjoy this picture of Howard Hodgkin in his studio that I stole from artinfo.

Surprises!

2010-07-28T16:38:00.001-04:00

Turns out the little painting I just finished is going into the East of the River show too. See a very skewed image of it above. See the real thing this Friday at 6:30pm.

I'm not entirely sure where I am going with this seascape business, other than I really like to paint them. There are lots of seascapes in the Cinecitta paintings, but this one is focused on the sea and a half submerged mast, some fire, and clouds. You know...the essentials.

Otherwise I am gearing up for the installation next week. Which I think I have planned well for. Mostly.

Press the Release

2010-07-20T17:58:00.002-04:00

The Cinecitta Chapel press release was released. Find it here. Thanks as always go to my faithful proofers who shall remain anonymous. They are my secret weapons, like the Flowbee or nunchucks.

The little "Molotov" painting I managed to squeak out while working on the big Cinecitta Paintings will be in this group show at Honfleur (the gallery, not France). Reception on July 30th at 6:30pm. Come on over and marvel at how I made giant paintings in such a tiny space.

Speaking of which, I have to devise a strategy to get the paintings out of the building. You see friends, there is a stairway up to my studio, limited in clearance by a banister on one side and an archway at the first little landing. Perhaps I should make parachutes for them and throw them off the roof. No! Better yet they ARE their own parachutes aren't they?

Titles Are on "Lock"

2010-07-17T13:24:00.000-04:00

Expulsion from the Green Derby

Apprehension at Ondaatje Pass

Escape from Christmas Island

Massacre at Tocqueville Gate

Arson at Nacotchtank Falls

Regarding Sheep over Vasari

Fin.

2010-07-16T19:04:00.001-04:00

Done. I mean DONE done. They're as good as they're going to be.

I even started a new painting today. It is not of a cowboy. It is of a nautical disaster.

Battling Average

2010-07-13T16:44:00.002-04:00

Not much left except to paint out a slim little belt around the red shirted gunslinger. The bartenders shirt wound up looking almost as it had before I started to repaint it. That should make my parents happy, as they sent me an email saying basically, "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" It is throwing off my batting average too.

The above image is from here.

Medieval Wristwatch

2010-07-08T11:50:00.002-04:00

So I am trying to fix some continuity problems between the first painting that I made in this cycle and all of the others. I don't know what I was thinking with those sashes! So far so good. Except for that bartender's shirt (above) which has always given me trouble.

Done! *

2010-07-06T11:47:00.002-04:00

I am finished. But with an asterisk. The Flashpoint crew knows what I'm talking about.

Watch Your Mailboxes For This Special Offer

2010-07-01T17:17:00.002-04:00

This is the image you will be spammed with in the coming weeks. Once detected you must follow the address instructions at the appointed time. You will find various and sundry splendors.No vacations for you until September. That is all I can say.

It is a detail of the Immaculate Arson painting. Which is a painting that I quite like, actually.

Some-But Not All-Of The Grass That I Painted

2010-06-25T10:38:00.001-04:00

Tells It Like It Is

2010-06-23T14:45:00.001-04:00

This Howard Finster painting seems appropriate these days. Also provides good words for use in a future title(s)... "Visions of a Gulf on Planet Hell"

image: Luce Foundation

Home Stretch

2010-06-21T20:08:00.001-04:00

The stencil thing wasn't panning out as expected. Plus there were little daubs of color that would squish under the edge of the stencil leaving little dots allover the place. It did provide a good map for location of subsequent leaf shapes. The moral of the story is that the template alone wasn't enough. Just like life.

Thinking about my varnish, or non varnish options. Still debating that one. Since the paintings won't be dry enough anyway I may just work on fixing the shiny, or dull, spots. Honestly varnish scares me. And I don't really like the high gloss.

Here are the (working) titles for the paintings:
1. Expulsion From The Green Derby (this paintings needs a little bit of help still)
2. Apprehension at Ondaatjee Pass
3. Arson at Nacotchtank Falls
4. Escape From Christmas Island
5. Regarding of the Empty Bottle
6. Massacre at Tocqueville

I am going to be painting blades of grass tomorrow. Should be pretty fun.

2010-06-14T13:48:00.001-04:00

The book review I had written about Jean Francois Lyotard's Un geste de couleur for ARLIS/NA in May has been published. You may find it here. There is also a review of that new Chuck Close biography that everyone has been going on about. Find that one here.

Lavorro lavorro

2010-06-08T15:54:00.000-04:00

Pushing forward toward the end. The only thing I've been able to keep up with is the Daytum stats.
I have to put some words together that resemble a press release too. At any rate, I should be at it for another two weeks. As of yesterday.

True Dat Big Bird!

2010-06-01T13:00:00.002-04:00

Here Is Where We Are

2010-05-27T19:07:00.000-04:00

Titles are starting to take shape too.

I Am Not Deaf, I'm Ignoring You (with the biggest font they offer)

2010-05-26T12:25:00.000-04:00

Painting is moving along. I am working on outfits. Continuity be damned.

To be on schedule I only have two weeks left. This is unrealistic, but it's still my goal.

Ta.

Prussian Spoonful

2010-05-18T10:33:00.000-04:00

The final two paintings are moving along. Towards the end of last week I began working on the figures and thinking about ways to tackle the foliage in the trees. I have a solution I think. For one tree it involves scraping. For the others in may involve a stencil. I always liked how Braque (who just turned 128) incorporated stencil patterns into his paintings-floating here, grounded there. Of course, it could all go completely haywire, but I think some haywire is necessary here and there.

Pictured above is part of a tower of prussian blue that I have lovingly cultivated over the past 3 years.

2010-05-07T12:55:00.004-04:00

I haven't been taking pictures so my macpaint version will have to do for now.

The "arrest" painting is quite different as of last night. I put a row of trees in front of an area of the painting that I couldn't live with. (1.)Rather, thus far, I have only indicated a row of trees. The space is still really bad, but I figure the rifle will take care of that. I have painted out the hand of God (2.) and replaced it with another (3.). The "cliffs of Dover" (4) are continuous now because I like the zigzag of that coast line. There is grass underfoot of the figures (5.) and I finished the tree stump (5a) which is pretty much the only feature of this painting that I like. Oh! and the clouds. I did a pretty good job on those.

In other news the Lyotard review is off to the editors.

I am planning an exhibition for DC Conspiracy to be shown at the DC Library in July. There are going to be a couple of zine/comix workshops, and a little comix lounge. Unfortunately I will be working on this while trying to put together the big Cinecitta Show. (by the way I am also on the library's exhibition committee. Here is a link to the "call to artists".)

Drawing Restraint

2010-04-27T14:01:00.001-04:00

Here is what last Sunday looked like for me. I am limiting my commentary because I have noticed a number of grammatical problems here in the past. So, as punishment, I can't dawdle away the minutes typing more than is absolutely necessary. Even though I really want to. That, and it's lunchtime. I have a craving for curry. Or noodles from China Boy.

An Elephant I Am Not

2010-04-21T13:11:00.004-04:00

I got so wrapped up in thinking about the Biennial, and getting back to my own stuff, that I forgot to mention that I saw Joe Zucker at Mary Boone. The paintings, not the man. It was unanimously proclaimed "awesome!" by all. Fiona Rae at Pace...a little less so. I like seeing her studio though.

I also met the fastest habberdasher in New York .

Dear Diary, I am Starting a Gang

2010-04-19T13:41:00.002-04:00

I saw the Biennial. Standouts were: Aurel Schmidt's single, crazy drawing. It was imagination run amok. See her art-talking about drawing here. There was another amazing drawing by Dawn Clements. The green in George Condo's painting was pretty great. Josephine Meckseper's Mall of America was smart and communicated on a bunch of different levels; synthetic experience after synthetic experience.

I discovered that my patience for obsessively constructed video with "meaningful", obliquely communicated messages has run out. Mostly.

I liked the obsessive quality of all of the work at the Biennial (that appeals to my most basic instincts as an artist), but the inward focus of much of the work made it seem like starting a book from the middle.

Otherwise, I have managed to pull my painting out of the dumps using glazes. Novel concept, right?

Lastly, I found a book at the public library called Encyclopedia of Western Gunfighters. I have already learned about the "Oklahombres". Their name would indicate that they were the cleverest band of outlaws that ever did outlaw. I already have dibs on that name for my gang (yet to be formed).

Awesomeness Deferred

2010-04-16T22:21:00.000-04:00

This week has not been great in terms of studio time. I was, after all, not in DC for the first half of the week, so maybe I should relax and allow myself a little breather. At any rate here is where we are as of last Wednesday. Awesomeness not yet achieved. Full speed ahead.

Give Up The Rock

2010-04-06T14:04:00.002-04:00

Here is the "arrest" painting. It has been getting the most attention over the past week. I have a lot of rocks to paint here. I have a lot more rocks to paint on the other.

Other than mixing up buckets of grey-ish brown, I am reviewing Lyotard's Karel Appel: A Gesture of Color for the Art Librarian Society of North America. Look for that in May/June. I'll wager that nothing could possibly sound more exciting that that.

And speaking of "arrest" and "rocks": the pie place in my neighborhood has a Marion Barry pie. It is a berry pie with rock candy topping.

Cinecitta Chapel: Year One

2010-04-01T10:33:00.001-04:00

I just realized that an important anniversary just passed. It has been one year -and four days- since I began working on these big paintings and only these big paintings; with one minor exception. I have three sketchbooks full ideas for other paintings, but NO! I must stay focused.

That said, this week has been horrible for studio time. To make matters worse, the weather is pitch perfect here in DC, so all I can think about are flowers and bicycle rides.

I am also thinking a lot about this stereoscope project that I have yet to mention. It seems quite doable thanks to ebay and other technologies. I am being vague because I want it to be a surprise. A surprise -frankly- that you, gentle reader, won't find out about for at least another year.

image: the Commons

Briny Seas

2010-03-27T11:39:00.002-04:00

Here we are on a special Saturday edition...
My seas have gotten a little brinier than I would like. I like the awning, though. And the snaking arm needs another curlicue to keep it from calling to mind certain professional baseball teams in the area. After all he did already burn down their stadium.
Oh! I saw the little Avercamp show, so expect some Dutch hamlets to be popping up.

Hiding in Idle

2010-03-23T09:11:00.001-04:00

the "arrest" painting...

...and "hiding"

These images are from the very first working day, so obviously there are already a number of differences. Also! Working on two at a time is the only way to go. Just saying.

Slo-Jamz

2010-03-22T20:26:00.001-04:00

I stopped in at Industry Gallery on Saturday to find the best sculpture in this here city. Well, okay, the best "design" by Tejo Remy and Rene van Veenhuizen. Mainly the rugs -catch a glimpse above (Those things are inspired!) and the wooden bench. The whole experience offered a necessary dose of perspective.

Over the weekend I started the last two paintings of the cycle in earnest. (pictures forthcoming)

My old painting shirt was retired over the weekend. I got to the point where I would wince every time I put it on. It looks a little like a Leon Golub painting from the 50's. This just makes me want to keep it around. The new shirt is white with burnt umber and blue splotches.

Carpentry = Hope + Wishes + Fuzzy Math

2010-03-16T12:27:00.003-04:00

Happy to report that the final two panels have been stretched and primed. Only 1/8" out of square, which I can take care of later.

This is such a relief because I am that much closer to being able to paint the other paintings I haven't been painting, save the Molotov painting, which you've seen. I sometimes test out ideas for future paintings in these big paintings, but I have had to keep myself in check for continuity reasons. Which is weird.

In this time I completed two drawings called "Bouquet Fight". One of them is the aftermath of a bouquet massacre at a banquet -which is an idea I have been trying to work out for about two years now!- and the other is set in a very idyllic, but lightning prone, landscape. Oh! I also did a tiny drawing of an axe wielding cowboy based on a Bewick engraving. One of the cowboys is tripping over an exposed root, ready to get chopped.

image via: LOC/Flickr Commons

Sweepin' Up Over By the Cigarette Machine

2010-03-12T12:32:00.000-05:00

My week off has included drawing one and a half versions of a bouquet fight and hanging three -count 'em THREE- big paintings outside of my studio in the hallway. Not optimal viewing, but you'll have to swing by the big show in August to get the full effect. This open studio tonight is just a teaser. Come by...rain be damned! You'll get to see Molotov Slide Tackle as well as some drawings in the flesh too.

I've been averaging 104.93 hours on each of these big paintings.

I'll be reviewing a new (new translation that is) Karel Appel book for ARLIS.

I finally renewed my WPADC membership. I fact, I renewed it so recently that my profile isn't even up yet.

Someone wrote in via facebook with a great misreading of one of the studies for the next painting. I am going to employ this misreading to heeeelarious effect.

image via: Eastman House

New Acquisition!

2010-03-09T11:09:00.003-05:00

Artist: Anonymous

Media: Photo reproduction, packing tape, duct tape, felt tip pen, plexiglass

No Title

Date: 2010

There is a story that goes with this one...

This piece was done by a guy I remember from the bad old days of art supply retail. This artist, let's call him "Melvin," used to come to the store, from the then nearby Tower Records, with CD's and promotional posters that he had stolen. He would try and give us the CD's because we would give him scraps of illustration board so that he could make something resembling what you see above. He would also try and get bus fare out of us too, which got pretty annoying.

I used to have another work that was actually better than this one. (If you can believe it.) It was a picture of Cesaria Evora, sandwiched between a piece of plexiglass and illustration board and inscribed on the verso with the words "Big Foot Lady I Love You". Oh! I didn't mention his foot "thing". He had one of our coworkers step on one of these images, then disappear to the bathroom for a while.

I have recently spotted him lurking around the LPs at DC Public Library. He left what you see above behind for the music librarian. She had it on top of a pile of books in her office, kind of befuddled as to why she had it at all. I explained his story, or at least as much of it as I know, and she was quick to hand it over. It is now hanging proudly in my studio.

Fin.

2010-03-08T12:02:00.003-05:00

Finished! Well, not exactly. There is one little thing that I have to do, which will be finished by the time that you read this.

This week is dedicated to drawing, reading, and sleeping past 6 am one of these mornings.

Good Time Malady

2010-03-02T13:10:00.001-05:00

Here we are. I am sick right now, so I don't have much to say other than I knew this would happen eventually. The sickness I mean.

You might like to see the finished version of this painting, plus one or two others, at an open studio I am hosting on March 12th at 7pm. Honfleur Gallery, directly beneath and outside of my studio door, is having their three year anniversary as well. It should be a good time.