Art Plunge

"The Path of Diligence" 48" x 36" acrylic/krylon on canvas It's finished!  I only worked a zillion hours on it. It's funny to think back on all the hours in the studio and how many hundreds of songs I listened to while this was being produced. I can't wait to get it shot by a professional so you can really see the lichen which was a breakthrough for me in this work. This one was appropriately named "The Path of Diligence" because that is what it takes to make it in this world. Diligence. Like a busy bee always on task to make the honey. Like a crane patiently fishing to feed itself. And all the fruits hung like little gifts if your eyes are open and you are diligent about getting them. There is an abundance of good in the world if you are diligent. As for the lichen, I've always loved the stuff. On researching it for the painting I discovered that it's a way to tell if a place is polluted or not. Lots of lichen means HEALTHY ...

Things are about to get bright, hot and chalky around here! As a freelance artist I am duty bound (in order to pay rent, eat and pay off my dental bill) to take some odd and end kind of jobs. You really never know where you're going to go, what you're going to do or who you are going to meet. This Friday I will be meeting a big hot concrete wall for instance. Well, I did meet this wall yesterday actually. I looked him up and down and decided he and I could work together on this little project.  This wall is located where the Cedars West Arts Festival is going to be taking place and I'll be creating a nice bit o' signage in colored chalk. I'll also be creating little colored chalk "fun stations" at various sidewalk points along the festival path so kids can come and color in, draw and get chalky too. There are challenges to taking on this job, namely the HEAT and also that little hindrance of not having a car. It's going to be an adventure fo...

"The World of Traceable Ghosts" acrylic, krylon on canvas 30" x 40" C'est fini! It's done! I put a lot of hours into this and excited to show it in public this Friday at Rising Gallery. I'm curious to see it hanging next to the mice. Today I just finish off the sides and install hanging fixtures to my pieces, wrap them up for travel and they are ready for the ball. I took some detail shots with my  humble camera detail  detail A lot of symbolism snuck it's way into this one subconsciously. I've also added secrets than can only be seen in person.  One thing I want to say about my work, I almost never have a set idea in my head of how it's going to be. No road map. No sketch. I let the canvas tell me what to do. I feel like I learn so much more when there isn't a connect the dots to follow. The forms, colors, figures, they appear like magic apparitions. Each thing sparking the next thing, like dominoes falling. I ha...

detail from work in progress "The World of Traceable Ghosts" There is a good chunk of time when you first start a painting that feels a lot like hacking through a thick forest with a cheap plastic picnic knife. Then after some time it feels like your plastic knife has turned into a well forged and sharp sword. Things start opening up and becoming easier. Paths begin to appear where there were none before. I finally hit that point on this painting last night. It's a good point. It's the point when you see clearly what all is left to do to the work and not the "what the hell am I going to do?" point anymore. I've posted a few photos on facebook of my progress and gotten a phenomenal response so far. YAY! I was very skeptical of the color scheme at first. I've been living in aqua, green and pool blue land for so long! I even had a fellow artist and blogger (Lizzie Fortuin) from the Netherlands ask about putting my piece on her website ...it...