Nature Morph

new, new, new

Hello, Summertime!  Guess what showed up in the mail?

 

My "wall art" from Urban Outfitters!  I have been mass-produced.

 

This is the original:

 

And here it is in my studio, hanging above the couch.

 

 

I just realized that the rug and pillows are also from Urban Outfitters.  I guess I'm a bit of a UO junkie.  I don't think my canvases have hit stores yet; hopefully in time for the "back to school" season.

In other news, the online small magazine, which featured my work in the Summer 2007 issue, is going to be printing a "Small Draw Coloring Book."  One of my drawings will be included in the book, and you can also download it for your own coloring pleasure if you follow the Summer 2007 link above, and click on "small draw."  This is the drawing, btw:

 

Finally, the amazing Jeff Hamada from Booooooom.com curated a group of prints over at 20x200, and he chose three of mine!  You can see the grouping and read more about his curatorial process here.  Thanks, Jeff! 

 

And, as a reminder, the two prints above are still available at 20x200, here and here.

new prints!

 

Limited-edition archival prints of these two watercolors can be found online at www.20x200.com.  The originals are 22x15 inches, but the prints come in a variety of sizes and prices, ranging from 10x8 inches to 30x24 inches, and starting at $20 a pop.  As they say at 20x200, it's art for everyone!

Here are some details:

 

 

 

more morphing

I am going to be taking part in another alphabet project at the Essex Art Center in Lawrence, MA, later this month.  I had to make something based on the letter M, and what could I do but morph mushrooms?

 

Here is a detail of some of the collaged elements:

It's a big piece, 30x22 inches.

I had been wanting to try out another configuration for the legged shrooms other than the fairy ring, and the massed grouping seems to work well.  I have completely run out of legs at this point, and short of stocking up on a whole new batch of used books to cut up, this will probably be it for a while.

The rest of the month is looking iffy for artmaking.  My daughter's school ends for the year soon, and then there is a block of weeks before summer camp begins, during which time we will be vacationing in various places, attending a wedding, and heading out on the tourist circuit.  I envision it as a time to gather source material, plot a new course, and see where my mind takes me.  The end of the year is jam-packed with exhibitions, so there is a lot to be done this summer.  I have high hopes and am looking forward to the time in the studio in July and August.  I'll try to be in touch again soon! 

playing with pattern

Here's a sneak peek at something new I'm working on.  I've wanted to try my hand at designing an image that can be tiled, a la fabric or wallpaper.  Here is the "tile," followed by the pattern:

 

 

This is just a rough start, but I am so excited about this!  I don't have Adobe Illustrator, so I'm doing it all on Photoshop, which is apparently not as user friendly as Illustrator, but for now, in the beginning stages, it's doing the trick for me.

wait, it's May??

WOW.  I haven't posted since March 31st.  Can that really be true?  Yikes.  I'll just jump right back in and look forward, not back.

This weekend is the art walk (a.k.a. open studios) in the South End.  If you are local, please come visit me at 450 Harrison Ave! 

 

Speaking of, I moved studios again.  My brilliant idea to downsize (starting last December 1st) came to a quick end.  I may have been saving some money, but I had way too much stuff, to put it kindly, for a smaller studio.  So I am back to the same size that I originally started with, but in a different space.  And it feels like I'm finally back to normal.  Here's the new space:

 

 

 

My favorite place (though not terribly conducive to artmaking):

 

And this would be me today, with a lovely backdrop of studio junk, unpacking the ever important wine to serve at the art walk.

 

Oh, and speaking of art, this new diptych will soon be available online as limited edition archival prints.  Oops, I didn't mean to do a full reveal of the upcoming prints.  Here is a detail tease image. More info coming soon...

out like a lamb...

I thought I'd bring this guy out from the vault, in honor of the last day of March:

 

It is Spring, after all, and the sheep magnolias are getting ready to bloom.

Seriously, though, I've been bird watching like crazy (and taking a million pictures to use for my work), and I've been watching and documenting the goldfinches shed their dull winter coats and turn gloriously golden again.

 

I am starting to think about my upcoming Summer shows, and (can this be true?) the Miami art fairs in December, and shows planned for 2010.  Nuts, I know.  But I'm trying to draft a work plan for the coming months, and it energized me to flip through the calendar and see such good things on the horizon.  Above all, I want to get back to painting she-wolves, and vixens, and other such creatures like these.

 

See you in April!

march, various

Hello!  I have been laying low since my L.A. trip.  My daughter had the flu, then we went skiing, and then I scrambled to get a collage framed in time to ship it out to California. 

 

This is the piece for the Regime Change show at Swarm Gallery in Oakland.  Here is more information about the show:

Swarm Gallery is proud to present a small works show, REGIME CHANGE, in celebration of our new representation in Washington. Little hints of optimism have begun to enter our minds once again, and our idea is to fill the gallery with smaller, hopeful works that address this contemporary (and hopefully not temporary) state of mind.

All works are under 12 x 12 inches and priced less than $500.

REGIME CHANGE is in conjunction with John Casey's solo exhibition "Distant Cousins." Please join us for the reception on Friday, April 3, 6-9PM. We will also be celebrating Swarm Gallery's 3rd year in operation! Come out and support the artists and the gallery.

PARTICIPATING ARTISTS: Alfred Steiner, Amanda Williams, Amy Ross, Andy Vogt, Barbara Holmes, Casey Jex Smith, Chris Pew, Chris Sicat, Dan Nelson, David Higgins, David King, Ema Sintamarian, Ernest Concepcion, Fred Muram, Fumiha Tanaka, Gregory Euclide, Jaime Cortez, Jessica Serran, Jim Rosenau, Jordan Essoe, Joshua Hagler, Kathy Aoki, Kevin E. Taylor, Linda Braz, Mayumi Hamanaka, Michael Hall, Narangkar Glover, Pete Glover, Sarah Emerson, Sarah Smith, Terry Furry, Treasure Frey, Vaughn Bell, Vicki Walsh, Zach Houston

In other news, the skiing this past weekend was amazing!  Crisp, cool air... ice-less slopes... and I did my first double black diamonds of the season.  It was pretty magical.

 

And I guess the flu was bound to hit us at some point.  My daughter and I did some low-key craft projects together while she was home from school.  We -- or should I say I -- made little dolls out of this fabulous matryoshka fabric I've had stashed away for months.  I did the cutting, sewing, and stuffing, but she chose the backing fabric for each doll and assisted with handing me supplies and assessing when they were stuffed just right -- not too squishy and not too firm.  These things are important, you know.

 

 

Now that winter sports and winter ailments are behind me (knock wood on the latter!), I'll be back in the studio for the rest of the week.  See you again soon.

the aim of waking is to dream

I'm back from my opening at Overtones Gallery in Los Angeles.  What a whirlwind 48 hours that was!  Thanks to everyone who came to the show, sent words of encouragement, and cheered me on.  Gallery director extraordinaire, Elizabeta Betinski, installed the show brilliantly and then threw a fabulous party to celebrate. So, without further ado, here are some photos of the show.

The view from the sidewalk out front:

 

Carole Silverstein and I collaborated on the front wall.  Carole lives in L.A. and was thus able to put in some time last week to paint calligraphy on the wall in beautiful shimmery paint.  I spent much of Saturday pushing buttons on photocopiers at various office supply stores on Venice and Lincoln Blvds, building the perfect hybrid creatures to perch on the calligraphic loops.

 

I was told that from afar, they look like jellyfish, but they are in fact mushroom-headed birds.  The gallery floor became my impromptu work space (since I didn't have time to build these creatures before I flew out to L.A.).

 

Here are some shots as you walk around the gallery:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Some of these collages are new, and I don't think I posted pictures of them yet.  This is a new group of small ones (8 x 10 inches each):

 

Deershrooms:

 

Weaselshrooms:

 

The Palms:

 

Gullshrooms:

 

There is also a grid of slightly bigger collages, 12 x 9 inches, matted and framed and thus larger overall. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here is the rest of the work in the show... 

Woodpeckershrooms:

 

Falconshrooms:

 

Duck Magnolia #5 & 6:

 

She-wolf with Snake:

 

She-wolf Series #10:

 

Snake Charmers:

 

Woodpeckershrooms #1:

 

I Have Found What You are Like:

 

Secrets of Living #1 & 2:

 

The Looking Bird:

 

Here is a detail of the possums in the painting above.  They are based on photographs I took of a non-nocturnal possum that comes to eat birdseed fallen to the ground in my backyard, in broad daylight. 

 

And that is the show.  Next on the horizon is a group show called Regime Change at Swarm Gallery in Oakland, CA.  I'll be posting a picture of the piece for that show later in the week.  In the meantime, here's hoping that March is on its way out like a lamb.

big weekend

Did I tell you where I'm going tomorrow?

 

My show with Carole Silverstein opens Saturday night at Overtones Gallery in Los Angeles, and I'm thrilled to be able to fly out for it.  The only downer is that I'm missing the Fata Morgana opening at Dabora Gallery in Brooklyn the same night.  As is the norm here, it has been a truly mad scramble to get everything painted, framed, and shipped on time, but (knock on wood) so far, so good.

I will do a blog post solely of the work in the show, but in the meantime, here is one of my new paintings that I just finished.

 

And some details:

 

 

Yes, in the spirit of springtime, that is indeed a grape hyacinth popping out of the bluebird's head.  I think both birds are a little shocked by it, understandably.  The piece is titled "i have found what you are like" after the e.e. cummings poem by the same name.

i have found what you are like
the rain,

      (Who feathers frightened fields
with the superior dust-of-sleep. wields

easily the pale club of the wind
and swirled justly souls of flower strike

the air in utterable coolness

deeds of green thrilling light
                           with thinned

newfragile yellows

                lurch and.press

-in the woods
             which
                   stutter
                         and

                            sing

And the coolness of your smile is
stirringofbirds between my arms;but
i should rather than anything
have(almost when hugeness will shut
quietly)almost,
              your kiss

 

quick update from down south

Greetings from Richmond, VA!  I flew down here from Boston to help out with my father's transition from the hospital back home.  I've done some cooking, some shopping, and some cleaning, and now I am taking a quick break to check email and write a blog post.

Before I left, I managed to finish the companion piece I mentioned last time.  Here is the pairing along with some detail images of the new piece.  Both will be headed to Los Angeles for my Overtones show.

 

 

 

Continuing with the e.e. cummings theme of the show, I named these pieces "Secrets of Living #1 and #2" after his poem may my heart always be open.  I'll leave you with the poem, and I'll be back here once I've flown back home.

may my heart always be open to little
birds who are the secrets of living
whatever they sing is better than to know
and if men should not hear them men are old

may my mind stroll about hungry
and fearless and thirsty and supple
and even if it's sunday may i be wrong
for whenever men are right they are not young

and may myself do nothing usefully
and love yourself so more than truly
there's never been quite such a fool who could fail
pulling all the sky over him with one smile