Fog & Other Mysteries

Fog #3
Acrylic on Canvas
10"x8"

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This image will be featured on the promotional postcard for my upcoming show at Gallery 070. The reception will be on the first Friday of May (5/2) from 6-9PM.

I am also proud to announce that I will be participating in a show at the Gage Academy's Rosen Gallery. It will feature the work of the Kang-O'higgins Painting and Drawing Atelier. It also opens May 2nd 6-8:30.

I encourage all of you to attend both openings simultaneously via the 4th dimension. Just remember... even though you'll be in two places at once, drinks are cumulative. Teleport responsibly.

Music and Tomfoolery

I'm at home and under the weather, so I thought I'd post a couple of odds and ends just for fun. These images are all digital, though most are reworked from some sort of physical sketch.

This is the poster for the second Hard Candy night at the Showbox SoDo. The organizers wanted the poster to feature a naked man this time. I'd just spent weeks drawing from a plaster bust of Hermes, so I brought in the obvious choice. I based the figure on a conglomeration of two statues of Hermes, one by Praxiteles and one by Giambologna (actually Mercury). I nixed the wings, swapped the rod for a lollipop, and called it a day. Originally he was tossing candy to the crocodiles, but I liked the simplicity and ambiguity of the image without the candy.


It's at this point that I confess that I not only have an imaginary record label, but a whole gaggle of imaginary bands. It's a fun game that I play to keep myself amused and interested. This is the CD art for the debut album of Hermes, a prog rock band from the suburbs of St. Paul, Minnesota. They signed to Pepperhouse last year and are touring with the Null Set, whose third album is due this summer.

I did this T-shirt design on spec for Sixer, a band that actually exists. Evidently, they are the Greatest Rock Band in the World. I used to work with Casey back in Richmond. He asked me to do an image of a guy digging the grave of Rock & Roll. Hey, sure, whatever. I don't think they ever used it, but it was fun to draw.

I sure do hate traffic. Don't you? Someday maybe I'll get shirts made from this design. There's a second image for another part of the shirt. It has a tiny, yellow chick preposterously seated on a mountain bike with a doomful Latin banner. I'd post it, but I never fully rendered it.

That's all from the land of incipient illness. I hope I didn't breathe on you while you were reading this.

...And So Forth

Death by Musette performing "Ushti, Ushti Baba" live at Frostburg's Mountain City Coffeehouse and Creamery, October 20, 2006

I am a regular reader of Christopher Reiger's blog, Hungry Hyaena. Aside from being an old and respected friend, Reiger is a voracious reader, astute art critic, and skilled writer. In a recent series of posts(+), Reiger wrote about his participation in the online, curatorial experiment "And So On..." The project asks artists to select two works by different artists who then select two works by other artists... and so on. What patterns would emerge in the organic network of aesthetic taste? I was intrigued and surfed right over to have a look.

To my surprise I discovered that the work of Michael Lease was among those selected. Lease collaborates with five other artists to create the online project, Sametime. Each night at 7:15, the artists take a photo and submit it with a caption. The result is more than a collection of beautiful photos. It is a small window into six lives-- humorous, mundane, and sometimes incredibly touching. Lease is a Richmond artist whose acquaintance I had the pleasure of making two years ago.

To my amusement, I not only knew two of the selected artists, but had actually once caused them to be in the same room. In 2006 I saw Michael Lease perform at opening of "Waiting..." as part of the duo Death By Musette. I was lucky enough to book them to play at the opening of my show "Lost In the Park." Christopher Reiger came down from New York to see the show. Thus on the night of April 7th 2006 Michael Lease played the accordion several feet away from where Christopher Reiger snapped photos and drank wine.

While it's a pretty small item on the grand list of coincidence, it still makes me smile. There's a nice bit of symmetry between "And So On..." and the informal relationship of Lease, Reiger and myself. I wonder what other relationships exist behind jpegs on the screen. I don't expect that I'll ever know, but I take comfort in knowing that the relationships exist.

Ahem...

I recently discovered that I have accidentally had the comment feature disabled on all posts published after January 2007. Ahem... sorry 'bout that. I wondered why I stopped hearing from folks. I'll be going back and manually fixing the problem post by post. I hope that you will all feel free to comment on prior posts or on posts in the future. I value your feedback and take great reassurance in knowing that you are, in fact, out there.
Thanks for stopping by, and sorry for the mistake.

Still Life with Hellmouth

Ink on paper

Available

The Hellmouth is a medieval theatrical motif that found its way into religious art. It can be found in engravings(+), illuminated manuscripts(+), Renaissance paintings, and contemporary pop culture.

For this still life I used a carved jaguar head that my brother brought back from Mexico. The figures were based on toys from Archee McPhee's, which I turned into devils. A visiting artist dubbed the whole setup 'Bosch in a Box.'

During my research for the piece, I stumbled upon one image in which the artist had rendered the flames in a manner resembling leaves. I liked the idea so much that I ran out and gathered a fistful of the freshly fallen Autumn leaves. As they dried their shapes grew more convoluted and flame-like.

Fog & Other Mysteries

The Thin Line Between Dreams and Memory (study)
Gouache on Paper
7"x5"

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I am happy to announce that I will be exhibiting a new series of paintings at Gallery 070 in May. The series is entitled Fog & Other Mysteries. The work, which is executed in oils and acrylics, is a tonal investigation of space, light, and atmosphere. I will post more images in the future, and look forward to seeing many familiar faces at the opening.

Posting Notice

Despite my best intentions, my rigorous schedule has kept me from posting frequently. I have a great deal of accumulated work that I would like to share, and I hope to post much of it in the near future. In the meantime, the the backlog grows daily and most of my energy goes into learning, creating, and desperately struggling to keep the wolves at bay.

Photo: The Chaos of my life... (clockwise from top) der Junggeselle, Little But Hope (cropped at right), Irascible Desires (partially obscured), Standard Decay (sideways), The Missionary's Daughter.

Hard Candy

This poster is for Seattle's Showbox SoDo. Hard Candy is an bi-monthly event showcasing local and national bands. I reworked the Tantalus motif to fit the sweet, edgy vibe of the event.
If you're in town and up for a fun night, come check out Hard Candy at the Showbox SoDo lounge. Guaranteed delicious, just remember to brush afterwards.

Matchbox Reliquary

Acrylic on Matchbox
Available

This is a wee reliquary for the devout traveler. I was shooting for a feeling of street-fair preciousness.



The front features an Agnus Dei and a wandering vine. The side is an ornamental Memento Mori.

On the back are the Four Evangelists.

Inside, we find a little Crucifixion. Look! It's the Virgin Mary, Mary Magdalene, and St. John. Up by the cross is Longinus with the spear. The angled bar of the cross points up to Dismas, the repentant thief, and down to Gestas, the unrepentant. It is a symbol of the possibility of last minute redemption. Also, at the foot of the cross is the skull of Adam. The river is my own addition referencing St. Christopher.

Inside, where any little relics would reside, we find St. Christopher, patron saint of travelers. He was a giant (hence the dog head in the Orthodox depictions) who carried the infant Jesus across a river. As he crossed, the tot got heavier and heavier until Christopher carried the weight of the world's sins on his shoulder. The Vatican removed him from the calendar of saints in '69, saying it was unclear as to whether the whole story was historically accurate. I'll limit myself to saying that that's a mighty slippery slope for the old Vatican to be traversing.

Still Life with Virgin Mary

Conte and Chalk on Paper
Approx. 8"x12"
Available

Pigeon

Charcoal on Paper
26"x18"


Pigeon is one of the best models at the Gage Academy. As a result of her striking features and her skill as a model, she has been painted, drawn, and sculpted more times than I can count. Here the likeness is not exact, and there are some anatomical problems, but I enjoy the drawing nonetheless.

The Tears of Sleeping Birds

Oil on Panel
24"x26"
Available

This painting came in response to a news story about a moth that drinks the tears of sleeping birds with a harpoon-like proboscus. Originally, the painting had an additional area on the left, depicting a doorway through which a lamp-lit bedroom could be seen. On the wall of the bedroom was a painting that gave rise to the previously-posted Leviathan drawing. After some deliberation, I took a saw to the panel, removing about 8", which greatly improved the composition. Ironically, the cropped portion sold immediately as a separate work.

Leviathan

Pen on Paper
8"x12"
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I based this drawing on the engravings of the age of exploration. There were several types of sea monsters that were commonly depicted. This whale-like creature is my favorite. Here, a passing vessel (upper right) bears witness to the sinking of an unknown ship. I took the liberty of substituting a Pacific Northwest landscape for the psuedo-tropical landscape more commonly depicted in this era.

Into the Wilderness study (detail)

Into the Wilderness Study
Watercolor and Pencil on Paper
Original Dimensions Approx. 17"x13"
Destroyed

This study was a late version of the sketches for Into the Wilderness (image below). I came across this file in a folder of bits and pieces on my computer. In addition to the traveller on the right, the original sketches called for a dark, distant figure in the space to the left of the building. The size of the paper exceeded the limits of the scanner that I used, which caused both the figure and corresponding space to be cropped out. I based the distant figure on this illustration that I made in 1998 for my poem 'Attempts to Map the Genome.'

"Trick: Banality is Adaptation"
Ink on Paper
17"x11"
Available

As I worked on the final painting I removed both people from the painting, which greatly simplified the composition. I was happy with the decision and quickly finished the work.
Unfortunately, calamity struck during the creation of the painting. A miscast cigarette butt ignited the building that was under construction across the street. Fanned by heavy winds, the fire advanced on the surrounding neighborhood of Carver. Burning insulation rained from the sky and set secondary fires that made many homeless. At its peak, the column of fire lay horizontally across the street and was twice the height of the VCU Fine Arts Building. The firefighters saturated the surrounding buildings for approximately eight hours. Many burnt, but the FAB was only mildly scorched.
Inside, the studios were soaked and much work was destroyed. Many of my fellow students lost their entire body of work. I lucked out and lost only some small drawings, photographs, and this study.
For eight hours, Into the Wilderness teetered on the brink of destruction. I was grateful to see my unfinished painting intact when I was allowed to return days later. My gratefulness has only increased with time as my painting has travelled the country and served me well. I am also thankful for this haphazard scan, and lament all that was lost in that fire.
Imagine if one could open a museum exhibiting the art that has been lost throughout history. I'm sure it would outshine the Met and the Louvre.

Into the Wilderness
Oil on Panel
48"x30"
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My Art Space Featured Artist

I joined My Art Space at the recommendation of Christopher Reiger. It is an interesting and bustling free website that allows artists to exhibit their images and network. Artists can organize their artwork into 'galleries' and 'portfolios,' which gives the artist a great deal of flexibility in sorting work. Shortly after uploading images, I was notified that I am one of this month's featured artists. Surf on over and check it out.
Above Image:
Scribe
Digital
2007

Blue Heron Gallery with David Carmack Lewis

Not the Birthday Girl
Acrylic on Panel
12"x24"
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Last month I had the pleasure of showing work at the Blue Heron Gallery in Vashon, WA. I shared the gallery with Portland Painter David Carmack Lewis. The show was a great success, and I bid farewell to a number of my favorite paintings, including the one pictured above. In the process of publicizing the show, an astute staff member noticed that David and I both earned our degrees from Virginia Commonwealth University. Our work dovetailed eerily well, and the coincidence of alma mater simply drove the point home. Perhaps Richmond leaves its indelible mark on those that have sweated and soaked in the city on the James.

Hero

Hero
Watercolor on Paper
6"x4"
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This little watercolor is from 1999. Of all the work I was doing at that time, I think it's held up well over time. I took a long time painting it, and eventually sold it at a VCU Student Art Sale.
Sometimes I miss the past.

Fed By Ravens

Elijah in the Wilderness
Hand Drawn Digital

For quite while, I have not been posting as often as I would like to be. The delay has been a result of both technical difficulties and a busy schedule. Since September I have been enrolled in the Drawing & Painting Atelier at the Gage Academy of Art. I have the great privilege to study with Mark Kang-O'Higgins. He is a keen wit and a fine teacher, not to mention a skilled artist.
The atelier is a constant challenge, and it is a pleasure to spend so much time studying and drawing. I feel that my skills have increased greatly, especially in the life room. I have great hopes for the upcoming Winter and Spring.
I am also lucky to have come in contact with Gage's talented staff, students, and alumni, including Spyder, Jason Sho Green, Sam Hamrick, and Crystal Barbre.
The image above was drawn as one in a series of weekly conceptual exercises. In addition to these projects, we have technical exercises, cast drawings, and personal projects-- and that's just before lunch. After lunch we spend three hours in the life room drawing the human body through direct observation. I will post more images of recent work as time and technology allow.

On Dark Ground

As promised, I am posting some images from the series 'On Dark Ground.' I will post more in the future, though the quality of some of the phtograhs are too poor to include. All are acrylic on panel. Sizes are approximate. All are sold.

In Good Company
20"x 8.5"


And Then She Knew
24"x12"


On a Lucky Morning
20"x10"

Circo dell'Arte

Like Any Other Morning
Acrylic on Panel
30" x 8"

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Vashon Allied Arts recently held their annual art auction in the Blue Heron Gallery in Vashon, WA. I was invited to participate and included this piece from the series 'On Dark Ground.' The series consisted of 16 paintings. It originally hung in the Harrison St. Coffeeshop in October of 2005. This was the last piece in my possession, and I was happy to include it in the auction. I never posted images of the series because of glare in my photos, but I think that I may post some in an upcoming entry-- glare and all.

Far From Home

The following paintings make up the show 'Far From Home,' which hangs through July at the Selvedge Studio in Missoula, MT.

Suffer a Witch
Acrylic on Panel
24"x36"
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Noli me Tangere
Acrylic on Panel
24"x12"
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Sheep May Safely Graze
(In the Course of a Dream #1)
Acrylic on Panel
24"x12"
Sold

A Quiet Place
(In the Course of a Dream #2)
Acrylic on Panel
20"x10"
Sold

Wind & Weather
(In the Course of a Dream #3)
Acrylic on Panel
20"x10"
Sold

Far From Home

Fishing in the Night Sky
Acrylic on Canvas
2.5"x3"
Available

Her Grip Was Unsteady, But Her Aim Was True
Acrylic on Panel
12"x24"
Sold

Far From Home

Ibex
Acrylic on Panel
2"x3"
Sold
Apocastasis
Acrylic on Canvas
6"x4"
Sold

The Missionary's Daughter
Acrylic on Canvas
8"x10"
Sold

Far From Home

der Junggeselle
Acrylic on Panel
19"x15"
Available

der Dieb
Acrylic on Panel
4"x19"
Sold

Having Come to This
Acrylic on Panel
16"x24"
Sold

Secret Flaws
Acrylic on Canvas
10"x8"
Available

Broken Porthole
Acrylic on Canvas
10"x8"
Sold

Nocturne
Acrylic on Canvas
8"x10"
Sold

Far From Home

Despite the lack of updates, I've been quite busy lately. After a brief hiatus, I hit the studio and pulled together a body of work for my upcoming show. The show is entitled "Far From Home," and will hang in the Selvedge Studio in Missoula, MT. Along with an armload of new paintings, I've selected roughly a dozen older works. I hope to post the entire show here in the days to come.
The Selvedge Studio is a hip, little fabric store and gallery in bustling downtown Missoula. For those of you that are unfamliar with the area, Missoula is a happening little town in Western Montana and home to a exuberant arts community.