Samsara

Samsara

From the series Lost in the Park

24" x 12"

Acrylic on Panel

2006

Sold

Happy New Year!

As we go around the sun one more time, I thought this painting would be a fitting post.  It's title, Samsara, is the name given to the cycle of birth, death, and rebirth in Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism and other related religions. 

So here we go again.  Good luck everybody.  Please keep your arms and legs within the vehicle at all times.

Also, my thanks to all of you that paid a visit to my Fatten the Goose blog.  The sale was a great success, and I've pulled the blog down. Many of you that had no hay-penny still found some kind words to toss into the old man's hat.  As always, your attention and support are greatly appreciated.  Special thanks, of course, to those that chose to buy my work. Your patronage is what keeps this chariot rolling along.

Patchwork

Patchwork

24" x 12"

Acrylic on Panel

2007

Sold

She Was Thus Protected

She Was Thus Protected

From the series Lost in the Park

24" x 12"

Acrylic on Panel

2006
Sold

Most people assume that the Lioness is attacking the the girl. She is, in fact, her guardian.

The Great Fire

The Great Fire
From the series Lost in the Park
24" x 12"
Acrylic on Panel

2006
Available

Jolly!

Goat on Cow!

14" x 11" 

Acrylic on Panel

This is a holiday commission.  It's a specific steer (technically not a cow, but c'mon).  It was one of the funnest commissions that I've had.  

If your holiday gift-giving has fallen flat or failed to materialize, have no fear!  I've added some new stuff to Fatten the Goose, and it's never too late to book a commission.

So Happy Holidays!  Merry Christmas!  Festive Yule! Jovial Hanukkah!  Awesome Kwanza!  Etc!

Dubious Tabernacle

Dubious Tabernacle
24" x 12"
Acrylic on Panel
2006

Sold

I've been digging through a lot of old work lately-- sorting, scanning, and reformatting.  Some of it has never been published on Feel Free to Wander, and I think I'd like it to be.  Over the next few weeks, I will be posting some images from the vault.  

 This one is from the series Lost in the Park.  

Choppity Chop

Vintage Cleaver

Digital

I've been doing a lot of side jobs recently.  This vintage cleaver is for the employee shirts at Seattle's new Oddfellows Cafe & Bar.  It took a lot of revisions, but I'm quite happy with the results.  I can't wait to get my hands on some of the shirts when they come out.  I'm also pretty excited to try out the new eatery... as soon as I get out from under this pile of unfinished business.  

Thanks to Ryann from Schoolyard Heroes for the connection.

Implied Theology

Implied Theology

40" x 30"

Oil on Canvas

I have been busy applying to MFA programs recently. As part of that process, I've been procuring letters of recommendation from former teachers. Yesterday morning I awoke to find an email from one of my recommenders* in my inbox. The message cut was incisive, and I felt that it was worth posting in its (slightly edited) entirety along with my reply.

Dear Michael,

I've gotten requests from several of the schools and will write them within the next few days, I enjoyed seeing your blog and your new images, also your very thorough CV. Your work has developed strongly. Still, I am a little confused by the disparate nature of images produced in the same year; for example between FOG and IN THE ABSENCE OF MEMORY. I tend to gravitate toward the more naturalistic images, finding them very evocative of memory and place. Could you tell me a little more about the other images?

Thanks,
Xxxx


Dear Xxx,
Thank you for your thoughtful response. You've hit on one of the central tensions in my body of work and also the largest challenge that I face today. I hope you will forgive the long message. I have tried to be succinct, but the answer is not a short one.

As you astutely mentioned, my work is fundamentally about place, and the disparate images are my attempts to wrangle with some of the many facets of 'place.' The more naturalistic images deal either with direct observation (Gatehouse Study , assorted cast and figure drawings) or the selective and often nostalgic nature of memory (Selective Memory, in which the trees have been arranged into straight lines, or the Handsome Derelict, in which a shabby, rat-infested, old GMC momentarily regains the luster of youth).

Memory, however, is only one element in the conglomerate that we call 'place.' Imagination colors our perception of place and radically reorganizes our recollection of it. From the toy-box inferno of Still Life with Hellmouth to the back alley apocalypse of Into the Wilderness imagination plays a vital part in many of my paintings.

Yet as soon as I begin stray from memory, I find myself entering into the land of logic and analytical thought. Paintings such as Not the Birthday Girl and its companions from the Lost in the Park Series occupy a borderline place where intellect slices away at perception, but the overall impact is still loosely naturalistic. With works such as Transect and In the Absence of Memory, I have tried to push deeper into the analytical realm where representation can be simultaneously diagrammatic, iconic, and illusionistic. Of course, the logic that I see is more the absurd, nihilistic machine of Duchamp than the streamlined industry of le Corbusier. In the absence of memory logic becomes a hellish, dysfunctional monster. This is the essence of many of my nightmares and the root of much of our digital-age anxiety. In fact, in many ways, these paintings are my lo-fi, analog attempt to engage with digital-age visual sensibilities.

I hope this addresses your questions without being too verbose. Big questions, big answers, I suppose. I cannot profess to have adequately addressed the concerns that I've outlined above. Indeed, one of my stated goals in seeking to enroll in an MFA program is to enter into a crucible-like environment where I can figure out how to fuse these disparate elements into a more stable amalgam. That said, I know that selection committees prefer a stylistically similar body of work, so I will not be surprised if this scuttles my application. I've been tempted to lop off whole sections of my body of work in an attempt to be more uniform, but I think that the internal tension is too vital to be left out.

Thanks again,
m

I post this message along with this painting, because I was literally working on this painting at the same time as I was working on In the Absence of Memory. I switched back and forth (obviously, one is acrylic and the other oil), but would paint on them in the same session. I think this throws some people, but it doesn't seem odd at all to me. It's not weird to think of someone was IMing in broken, online slang while writing a formal, technical document and chatting with the nearest co-worker. Each of these requires a very different form of language, and we switch easily from one to the next. Why not in art?

*This is a dreadful word, but it is what these kind folk are called on the official forms.

In Life...

It is important to have good friends, because good friends know good people. With any luck, those people become your friends. Then you are friends with more good people.

Leigh Anne let me stay in her basement for a month. Because of her I was able to get a foothold in this mossy city. Luckily, I was able to repay my debts as she left for warmer climates.

She sent this dispatch from the road.

Broken Porthole

Acrylic on Canvas

I am envious when my paintings lead a more exciting life than I do.

PS- If you have any artwork of mine, please send me pictures of it in its new life. It makes me happy.

Fatten the Goose

Christmas is coming, and the goose is looking mighty skinny.

The holidays are upon us, and this year I've decided to celebrate by having an art sale.  After a great year of showing and selling, I'm content to offer many of my favorite works at studio prices.

To check out what's on sale, surf over to Fatten the Goose, the temporary blog that I've put together. The artwork spans several media and ranges from older pieces to recently completed work. Much of it has been shown before, but some has never been in the public eye.

Fatten the Goose will run for through the month of December, and I'll be adding work to it as I see fit. To purchase work or set up a viewing appointment, send me an email by clicking on the email link in my Blogger profile.

I hope this sale will help make things easier for those of you that would like to buy art but are feeling the pinch of these lean times. My art is meant to be a part of other peoples lives, and I try to do what I can to make that possible.

Happy holidays!