Reconsideration

Reconsideration, 

Here is a small mixed media piece that began as a drypoint print that just wasn't working. Upon reconsideration it now has a second life.

Viva L.A.

You could interpret my visit to L.A. last week as a religious experience. While there I saw Jesus driving a Dodge Charger, and I thought he was a Ford man. Switching rooms became an imperative because someone breathing hard could have opened my "locked" door, never mind that there were no curtains in the bedroom. Then a wrong turn in a questionable part of town generated an Academy Awarding winning look of intimidation from some dude behind a steel fence. Whether he had anything to back it up will forever remain a mystery. So you might might say I drove all over hell and back. Meanwhile I got lost wondering around downtown and discovered intricate and colorful murals and architecture from Art Deco to modern ho hum, enjoyed the company of friends, the sun, and some freaking good art by Amy Sillman and Mark Bradford among others. All in all it was a successful trip. Now back to the studio. 

Summer Recap

This past summer may go down in Seattle history as one of the most California-esque ever. If you thought it was just a rumor that Seattleites get a little grumpy after so many consecutive days without rain then now you know the truth.

Long days of sunshine made for another magical time with eleven other studio artists working side by side in August during the third annual Duwamish Residency (we will have a joint exhibit in the 4culture Gallery in March so stay tuned). I'm grateful, too, for the wonderful response to my solo show at Blindfold Gallery.

So after a bit of a break, I got back to the studio a few weeks ago and am working steadily away on more collages and paintings. There will be new images up on my website in the next couple of weeks. 

Final Week for "Past Through" at Blindfold Gallery

This show might just as well been called memory tricks. It contemplates the weird and inexplicable way our memories work. This is the final week for Past Through: Exploring the Alteration of Memory, new works of painting and collage at Blindfold Gallery, 1718 E. Olive Way, Seattle. Hours: 1-5 pm Thurs-Sat. Please don't let it pass you by.

Here are a few recommendations for the show:

The Stranger Recommends
Elissa Favero, Art Nerd Seattle Review
Seattle Vanguard, Date Night

Artist Talk for Past Through

A huge thank you to Emily Gherard for joining me in a conversation about Past Through: Exploring the Alteration of Memory at Blindfold Gallery last Thursday night. She brought her natural intelligence and energy to help generate an interesting conversation about the process of painting and drawing. I'm equally grateful to everyone who turned out to fill the gallery and join in our discussion. Good stuff!

Thanks to Scott, Laura and Sarah at Blindfold Gallery for making this possible.

The exhibit is up through October 6.

"Past Through" Reviewed on Art Nerd

Please take a look at the review of Past Through at Blindfold Gallery posted yesterday by Elissa Favero on Art Nerd Seattle. Thanks Elissa and Art Nerd!

Thank You for a Wonderful Opening

Opening of Past Through at Blindfold Gallery

On a pleasantly cool August evening we had a wonderful turnout for the opening of Past Through. Many thanks to everyone who came out to see the show and helped to make this such a special evening. The exhibit runs through September 6, Blindfold Gallery, 1718 E. Olive Way, Seattle, Thur-Sat, 1-5 pm.

Opening Tomorrow

Here is a peek of Past Through, which opens tomorrow night at Blindfold Gallery, 1718 E. Olive Way, Seattle from 6-9 pm. Hope to see you there.

Duwamish Residency

On Tuesday, the third annual Duwamish Residency got underway. For eight days twelve studio artists explore and artistically interpret the Duwamish River and its environs. We're used to working inside the rarefied walls of our studios so it a bit of a shock to our systems to be working outside for so many consecutive days, lugging our equipment through blackberry brambles, across polluted bogs, down West Marginal Way as semi trucks scream by while shaking the ground, or under the only swing bridge in the U.S., the Spokane Street Bridge. There, a span of concrete the length of a city block pivots open on a single pillar, which is extraordinary to see. We recommend that you lay on the ground and feel the shudder of the pistons as they slowly swing the disjointed roadway within inches of the pillars of the nearby West Seattle Bridge. It's much better than IMAX. For more information about the Duwamish Residency, visit our blog at Duwamish Residency.

Fine Art Museum at Florida State University

Think Tank, mixed media, 18"x24", 2013

The 29th Tallahassee International Exhibition at Florida State University Museum of Art will open on August 25th. Two of my painting, Think Tank and Sailing Club, were invited to be in the exhibition. The exhibit runs through October 5. Please stop by if you happen to be in the area.

Sailing Club, mixed-media, 12"x12", 2013

Save the Date: Aug 14 Opening Reception at Blindfold Gallery

A Break in the Path (I Found You), 48"x48", mixed-media, 2014

NEW PAINTINGS AND COLLAGE

OPENING RECEPTION: Thursday, August 14, 6-9 pm

WHERE: Blindfold Gallery
                   1718 E. Olive Way
                   Seattle
     
WHEN:    August 14-Sept 6, Thurs-Sat, 1-5 pm

ARTIST TALK: In conversation with Emily Gherard, Wed, Aug 20 at 7:30 pm (doors open at 7:00 pm) (Please note this change of date).

Memories give context to life. I am a representational painter of memory - fuzzy, blank, unreliable, crystal clear. My imagery is generated through a sifting process that involves the unplanned intertwining paint, paper or other materials.  You are warmly invited to join me for this exhibition of my current interpretations of memories.

Memory Sieve IV, 20.5"x20.5", mixed-media, 2014

Puny Picture Show at the Shooting Gallery This Week-end Only

This week-end, during the West Seattle Summer Festival, you have the opportunity to purchase art and support the White Center Food Bank. Stop by Wallflower Custom Framing and the Shooting Gallery, 4735 - 42nd Avenue SW, Seattle, for the Puny Picture show.

Works from a dozen artists, including six of mine (there they are above), will be available for you to take home. Please stop by and support the local community.

Tieton 10x10x10

Two of my mini-prints, including the one below, have been accepted into this years' Mighty Tieton 10x10x10 Exhibition that will run from August 9 through Oct. 10. Well, I've been meaning to hit the road and visit Tieton. No time like the present.

Thought Bubble I, drypoint monoprint

Just a Few More Days of Revolution: 5 After 1

Just a few days left to catch this show, which ends Friday. Please stop by Seattle City Hall 8 am to 6 pm daily.

Opening Reception June 5 at Seattle City Hall Gallery

Please join the artists of Revolutionary: 5 after 1 for the opening reception of our exhibition at Seattle City Hall and Anne Focke Gallery, 600-5th Avenue on Thursday, June 5 from 4-6 pm.

This exhibit includes Louise Durocher, Robert Hardgrave, Gillian Theobald, Claude Utley and myself. In early 2013, the same group of artists exhibited together for the first time at the Washington State Convention Center in an exhibition titled Evolutionary: 5 after 5. At that time, the five of us had shared conversations and ideas while our studios were side-by-side. Our current exhibit, Revolutionary: 5 after 1 explores changes in our artistic relationships one year after three of the five artists relocated their studios for various reasons. This exhibit asks what commonalities have changed and what have remained the same.

Hope to see you there.

Jumbled

Jumbled, mixed media, 14"x10.5", 2014

Memories provide us with context whether they are real or imagined. Their sometimes elusive and malleable nature, because of our shifting interpretations as we gain knowledge and experience, can lead to moments of clarity or utter confusion. My process mimics the way that memory works by intermingling paint and mixed-media in a process that brings memories into present tense. 

Jumbled is a recently completed piece that recalls just one of those event of mixedupness. They happen more than I care to admit. But then they aren't necessarily a bad thing because when the subsequent moments of clarity take place it's a rather brilliant feeling. Well, for as long as it lasts. But then I just get back to work and eventually it all shakes out.

Revolutionary: 5 after 1

Deep Blue, 72"x 38", mixed-media, 2014

At the beginning of 2013, five artists, Louise Durocher, Robert Hardgrave, Gillian Theobald, Claude Utley and myself, who shared conjoining studio space, exhibited our work together for the first time at the Washington State Convention Center. That exhibit was called Evolutionary: 5 After 5. It explored the impact on our paintings, sculpture and printmaking while working in close proximity and sharing ideas through conversations during a five year period of time.

Now more than a year later later, and after some of us have moved our studios to other locations, we are exhibiting together again. This time we are exploring what common elements remain and which ones have dissolved. Please join us as we present new work created we last exhibited together.

Revolutionary: 5 after 1
Seattle City Hall Art Gallery
600 Fourth Avenue
May 7 to June 30, 2014, 8 am-6pm week days
Opening: June 5, 4-6 pm

The exhibit begins on the first floor and continues in the Anne Focke Gallery downstairs. 

New Website in the Works

The new website I've been building over the past couple of weeks will include a fuller selection of collages along with several new mixed-media paintings created this year. Stay tuned!

Tools of the Trade

Just a few.

Layers and layers of glue are stuck to the tips of my fingers these days. Fortunately enough glue eventually finds its way to the underneath of paper scraps that are assembled into some sort of order. 

Memory Sieve III, 22"x22", 2014

Change of Weather

Cocoon, collage, 2014

As snow piles up further east and south, it's raining here. If it were colder in Seattle we might have 10" by noon. Irregular bursts of water beat against the skylight with a cadence that seems match my own. Every residency has a rhythm and mine has fallen into an inevitable lull. So I’ll scrape away the dried glue, sweep up scraps of paper and wipe away dribbled ink. The forecast holds more weather systems so it's best to be prepared.

Reckoning

Reminiscing

Integration

Sumi ink, collage on paper, 2014

Some of the drawings you may have seen on the floor of my studio (Feb 7 post) have taken on new dimensions. 

Before and After, or How I Learned to Embrace Drawing

Example A of a tortured drawing!

Sumi ink on paper, 2014

I skipped posting any of my tight ass graphite drawings from last week, created while squinting, measuring, erasing, and drinking a lot of coffee. It turns out that building up layers of lines to create an image might even be . . . fun. There, I said it. Drawing isn't so bad, especially after the ink comes out. 

Shades of Gray

A few days ago I began shifting from ink to paper. Here is one study.

First Week

During this first week of February, I’ve been re-establishing a full-time studio practice. My schedule has been steady but more sporadic than I would like. It has been interrupted for by numerous events, including a death in the family, the holidays, and some travel. On top of that, it just takes awhile to settle into a new studio. While I've been here about six months, it occurred to me several weeks ago that I still haven't fully owned this new space. Familiarity is the key, so I've set about about with new schedule and work plan for the month. I'm calling this period of time an in-studio residency.

Last fall I confessed to my dislike of drawing during an artist talk, which surprisingly generated a dynamic discussion with about 15-18 people, mostly artists, about their like or dislike and all the gray areas between painting and drawing. But I digress at bit. I only bring this up because since then I've decided to reconsider my opinion by giving the practice another go. With that in mind, this entire first week has been all about a monochromatic palette and drawing from 3-D forms created last week. Here's a glimpse of what has been going on behind closed doors.

Deconstructing Seattle

There are times lately when my home town feels unfamiliar, as if Scottie had beamed me into an alternate universe. When I was a kid visiting Seattle Center or Pike Place Market on a family outings, Tim Wistrom's prints of Seattle in a post-global warming world seemed bizarrely fun and unimaginably prescient. One of my favorite images showed the Space Needle almost submerged with flowers sprouting from the top while whales circled below the water line near the curvy support beams. As the neighborhoods surrounding the Space Needle are transformed by high tech dollars that help to create a virtual world where Scottie might have lived, the iconic symbol of the Space Age is undergoing a type of submersion that even Wistrom didn't foresee.  

Wishes

Here's wishing you a new year filled with love, happiness, creativity and laughter. Especially for my family, friends, neighbors and colleagues here in the Pacific Northwest, may we have more days like this one.