There’s always ups and downs in studio, but sometimes, the storm clouds gathering on the horizon just suck all the optimism out of the air. Failure always feels like its just around the corner. So I took some time to carefully think about the realities of the future.
After designing and printing ridiculous KC tshirts for most of September, October has been a return to form in a lot of ways. My unfinished series of allegorical paintings from Greek mythology are back on the front burner and it’s great to be able to solely concentrate on painting again.
Every so often, I end up taking the path less traveled, and all the dumb, stupid ideas that pop into my head end up as real life things I make. This month I made a bunch of new t-shirts and assorted ephemera, and it’s been a doozy. So here’s the fruits of my KC inspired…
Work on my series of paintings inspired by Greek mythology has been progressing at a decent clip. I estimate there’s probably only about a half or third of all the canvases I’ll paint even started at this point, but it feels like an exciting and fresh start to this body of work.
Part Two of the best laid plans I could muster for the summer went into effect in July. I started in on a whole new sprawling series of oil paintings of Greek Myths. New beginnings always make for an exciting time in studio.
The older you get the faster the calendar seems to move. In June, I finally was able to brush off the malaise of the past few months and stand in front of a number of large canvases. My goal is still the same: produce two shows of new paintings that will debut in the Fall.…
After a few slow months, things really started to ramp up in May. New paintings, ideas and shows all bubbled to the top of my consciousness. With the sudden burst of creativity, life started to feel a whole lot better again. Ironically, horror is inspiration.
Overloaded with classes and under inspired in general, April actually turned out to be a calming, productive month. It proved beneficial to my psyche, vital when I’m in a painting slump.
After every big project, there’s a weird energy left in the room. Sometimes, overflow energy manifests itself in some fun and weird ways, other times a drought is on the way. But even when a lull in studio occurs, there’s surprisingly always things left to work on.
Everything started while flying back to Kansas City after the holidays at the end of last year. Dutifully filling page after page in my sketchbook, I set myself up with a breakneck six week run of work. Well, February arrived and it was time to wrap everything up and enjoy the fruits of my labor.
