Almost there

What else can I do to this piece… Wait, I’m sure I’ll think of something. But for now I think it’s done!

It’s Finished!

The Arrival, 2011

Almost done!

I am very excited about this new piece that I am nearly done with! I have been working on this new Raven piece that to me is about arriving at someplace new in life… A calmer existence that has come into being through lots of getting things wrong, trying again, reflecting on my mistakes and trying to piece together an objective picture of who I am. To this end I have a man carried by a raven, with a destination of two intertwined circles that to me represent the merging of opposing forces. right now the circles are orange and green, but there will be black and white circles superimposed on top of them. Documenting this process in the blog format has been an incredible help in contextualizing this piece. Hopefully It will be finished by Monday!

Hipsters

I have to admit I am fascinated by hipsters and hipster culture. I’ve lived in San Francisco since 1995 and for that whole time I’ve either lived in the Mission District or at least had that as a major thoroughfare of my life… Except for a brief stint living in West Oakland… In an art warehouse called ABCo Artspace, where we threw HUGE parties attended by throngs of hipsters. It’s been an illuminating journey peering through the eyes of generation Y and seeing how they have spun the cultural memes of my generation X. We both still listen to Nirvana… My generation because it defined us… Hipsters because it’s lo-fi. But hipsters aren’t angsty. Infact generation Y seems so… God, well… Well adjusted. I mean they are so much nicer and happier and confident than my nihlistic and doomed feeling generation.

Part of this happy, confident and self loving trickle down has led to a generation of young men who are much more secure with their sexuality than mine and this in turn has led to the phenomenon of Bromance. Dudes who have really involved non sexual relationships (that border on romance) with each other and are not self conscious about it. In fact they talk openly about it, hence the term bromance. Gay and straight guys seem much more fluid in their interactions and this has been the genesis of my series: Bromantasea (Bromance at sea)

Drypoint

I have been really spoiled having access to clear acrylic resin. It has become for me a whole new medium that is something different from regular painting and different from printmaking, and it allows me to use techniques from both disciplines. For example I use the resin to separate layers, I can paint on a layer, dye a layer do washes on a layer… Or in this case drypoint on a layer. This allows me to do very fine lines that when I ink them (like an intaglio plate) and cast them there will be a very thin line floating in resin, casting a shadow on the layers below.

Making Progress!

Trust in the process

Starting this blog has already had one unexpected benefit… It’s started me photographing my work in process, which I’ve never done before. It’s kind of a revelation, because I like to work in layers. Usually I start off with solvent washes that i build up on top of each other, separated by a layer of clear resin… Depending on how the piece evolves the layers may be still visible under semi opaque washes or barely peeking through more dense layers. Today I photographed this new piece, part of a raven series I’ve been working on after it’s second layer of washes and a quick gesture painting of a raven’s silhouette. It’s kind of nice to have this frozen in time so I can wrap my head around the composition and have a visual record before I dive in to the opaque layers that will overlay. Also as a printmaker my gears are turning for a way to use this as a base image for a set of prints!

Stage two in a multi stage process

 

 

Love is Blindness

I found this print in my studio this weekend when I was doing some cleaning. It was a two plate etching I did with the image of a blind folded cupid. It was an image I was using a lot at the time because A.) I really liked the drawing – in fact I drew it several times to different scales. and B.) It seemed to epitomize the utter randomness that was my love life. I don’t know what your experience with romance is but if it is anything like mine, we should get drinks… Many drinks, strong ones.

Love is Blindness, Two plate zinc etching with aquatint and sugarlift

Why I Paint

Sometimes I wonder, because it’s not always easy being an artist… You have to wear so many hats; working full time to support your passion, renting a workspace, being your own web master, promoter and still find time to actually paint. It all makes sense though when you think of the benefit: I can make anything I want! This is the sacred right of the artist. No matter who agrees or disagrees with you, no matter what the world throws at you, the artist has the last word on their imagination, period. Case in point this painting I am working on, part of a series I call Bromantasea (Bromance at Sea). Is it really art? It is to me… Not only that but it is an outlet for me to go out on a flight of whimsy. Sure, the car I can barely afford got rear ended today, but I get to live in a world where sparkle pony unicorn horns balance dudes on a skateboard and that makes it all okay.