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THERE'D BETTER BE
LOTS OF FLOWERS AFTER THIS MONTH
April 11, 2004 - By far the busiest
month of the year in studio for me, with the last couple months of
work culminating into the 'While
We're Young' show on the sixteenth, followed in rapid succession
with the solo
show at Mojo's, the
EAST tour, along with having to produce four 5"x7" paintings for
the ARTHOUSE show to be delivered on the third of May. Throw
in some commitments to get the
Airport show
together, along with the weight of putting together the entire While
We're Young show, and things were pretty high stress for a while
there.
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Sometimes a painting requires a good hand model.
Most of the time, I have to settle. |
In addition
to all of these shows, finishing work, taking slides and the like,
I've also decided to take the plunge and leave
Blue Genie as well, moving both house (my apartment) and home
(my studio at Blue Genie) and combining them into one effort under
the auspices of the
Bolm Studios, mere blocks away from my current stomping grounds.
The money saved on gas alone will make the move profitable, and as
sad as it'll be to leave the high energy, inspiring, creative
atmosphere and incredible folks of Blue Genie, I'm heading to a new
space with a different energy and the already mighty efforts of the
Sodalitas collaborative group,
who have spearheaded the
EAST project. |
One of the paintings that gave me headaches for much
of March and April. Soon, it'll be finished. The working
title of this painting became 'What About Bob?' after a shockingly
striking similarity was discovered between the man on the far left
and
Bob Sabiston, Austin's animation guru.
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The modest beginnings of the bulk of the work for
the American Paintings show at Mojo's Daily Grind in May. Fat
figure studies, God Bless America. |
And change does the body and soul good. I never would have
guessed leaving the ART Hive one year ago this month was such a
monumental decision: I moved to Blue Genie,
Nathan Jensen closed up the coop and now has a healthy baby boy,
and
Chris Chappell is settled into Blue Genie's studios. The
past year I've seen more exposure than imaginable come my way, and I
feel pretty indebted to the Blue Genies.
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A close up of 'Extra Mustard'
A happy tale of a man and his hot dog, relish, and of course,
ample amounts of mustard. |
And things go. As for my
paintings, they are in the midst of a very tangible change:
looking at the progression of the ten paintings that make up the
April show, capped by the progress I made in
late
March, the forms and images are disintegrating before my
very own eyes. The palette knife has re-emerged from a
long absence as one of the main forces in my new work, and I've
joked with plenty of folks the past few months that I'll be a
completely abstract painter by June. That may be too long.
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This painting, in its unfinished state, lazily
sat around my studio for three weeks before I finally put the
finishing touches on it. It'll debut at the While We're
Young show, so swing on by and see it in all of its finished
glory. |
So who knows what the
future holds, my home, studio, and now painting style are
undergoing drastic changes. I'm single, and happy, poor,
and literally betting every last dollar that I'm going to make
it at this art thing. There was a
story recently about a British man who completely liquidated
his entire life and assets to bet on one spin of a roulette
wheel in Vegas. I feel a certain kinship to his mad plot,
but with hollow celebrity and insane riches following every
talent-less reality show personality, Paris Hilton or Jessica
Simpson, is there really a risk on his part?
I'm staring down my
last two boxes of macaroni and cheese, spending more money than
is imaginable on this weekend's show, and there's no guarantee
I'll make a dollar from it at all. There is a distinct
possibility I'll wake up on Monday with zero dollars and zero
income. Maybe employment beckons. So it
goes. |
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