36 in x 48 in painting in progress of on old Rocky Mountain News paper box but burning!
Fort Worth Community Art Center
I had the honor of being selected to be part of a juried show out in Fort Worth, Texas. The theme was “Courage” and was part of a fundraiser for the Choose Courage Foundation that helps victims of domestic violence. So here’s the pic of my painting during the opening reception.
Today in the News
Need to straighten out the angle of the door but here’s the general layout of an old Rocky Mountain News paperbox I’m working on for my 2018 show with Core New Art Space.
Things you can build
In a couple hours with a handsaw, wood glue, and screws, or painting storage is the bane of my existence.
Denver, are you listening?
I guess the upside to rolling with the old school local art sect is - I’m not the only one that feels an open contempt by the city towards Denver artists. You wanna throw meaningless graffiti characters on every building, and bring cookie cutter public art to our parks? Go right ahead. But at least deal with the open air drug deals, and drunks that trash our open spaces. Support the galleries, studios and individuals, that made those questionable neighborhoods desirable for transplants. I know you have the tax revenue since everyone and their cousin moves here. Stop putting artist that don’t have roots here on a pedestal for the public to fawn over. It’s super disheartening to watch co-op after co-op fold and struggle to find affordable new space. So that’s what my next and most likely final exhibition with Core New Art Space is all about. Denver left its biggest champions behind for a new facade, the ones that saw beauty in the city before it got to big for its britches. You want to put us on a website about arts and venues to attracted money and tourists but never actually visit the exhibition, never write us up in the news or share our posts. Time to find a place that actually values the time it takes to create something of meaning.
~For anyone that actually reads this sorry for the rant.
Dear Denver
Denver... I miss how you use to be. Before you had a facelift and went back to college. Your flaws were what made you interesting. I was always there for you - having dinner with your Italian grandma on the north side, before your little sister Aurora turned trashy (she was always a little bit out there,) your uncle Boulder was so opinionated! Back before the area codes, when Colfax stretched from Israel to Mexico. But times change Denver and we all have to grow up. We’ll always have the memories of old men smoking cigarettes over coffee at Dutchboy Donuts, and the Barnes Dance downtown. Birthday picnics at Elitch Gardens and Celebrity or even setting off Roman candles in Globeville when the Broncos won back to back superbowls.
Note To Self
Never paint 6 - 1/2 inch figures, you’ll burn through five brushes and and never fully realize the faces.
While You
While you were exchanging political barbs on social media and marching past my old cracker box apartment in Capitol Hill with home made signs - I was toiling away documenting the events of the time with paint and trowel. Sacrificing what little I had left. Not for some inflated sense of ego or critical acclaim, not for the chance to ship my work into the middle of conservative America on my own dime. And while I’ll most likely never have thousands of Instagram followers or make 60k a year from selling art, maybe just maybe, some little kid that finishes tests early so they can draw on the back of the paper will get dragged to an art exhibit by their mom or dad, see one of my paintings and be inspired to actually creating something. Do something other than napping and walking the dog, working a cubical job that doesn’t really mean anything just like everyone else. Maybe they’ll spend all their free time creating something beautiful.
Yes, Painting Tiny People
Is just as miserable as you would imagine it is.
New Series!
In what could very well be my last exhibition with Core New Art Space at the Santa Fe Dr location, I’m starting work on my 2018 showing with a series of Colorado centric paintings before Denver completely cannibalizes what’s left of everything that makes this city interesting.
Super Bummed
At the loss of Lawrence Argent, I had the privilege of visiting his studio multiple times and generally shooting the breeze about art. It’s a huge loss for the Denver art community and pretty tragic for the all of the art world. If you’re not familiar with his career - he was doing some pretty major projects in San Francisco and China.
Throw Back Thursday
To this 10” x 44” unconventional panorama from college. My control of oil pastels was pretty amazing.
Plans for 2018
Pretty much every painting I do these days starts out as a quick thumbnail. Here’s one for my 2018 exhibition. The Rocky Mountain News was the morning paper here in Denver and was always the better of the two. Shout out to the Denver Native life.
Pretty Sure
No one actually reads these posts unless I push them to other social media sites, but is October yet?!?
Free-Market Capitalism
Well the upside of gloomy days is you can take great photos of your art. The downside is realizing the hypocrisy of free market capitalism. Yeah in the industrial revolution, you could create something and actually compete - but now with the consolidation and mergers of companies it’s nearly impossible. Take for example this 36 inch by 48 inch painting, there’s only two shipping companies I can use. If I were to ship this in a box that’s literally the same size of the painting the cost of shipping is roughly $36 USD one way. Let’s add 1/2 inch of bubble wrap and 1 and 1/2 inch spacer. That’s a box roughly 40 inches by 50 inches by 6 inches that weighs less than 20 lbs. shipping cost increase to $150 USD for ground shipping. Let’s say you’re shipping that to a juried show where you have to pay return shipping. That’s $300 USD for shipping that you’re eating. There’s no way to recoup those costs and some instance you could buy a plane ticket and fly with the painting or take a day few days off work to drive the painting and still come out ahead. It’s ridiculous and super disheartening, I can’t roll the shipping costs into the cost of the painting to recoup my expenses. What are the odds of actually selling the painting? Will being in a new market increase those odds? Is exposure worth the costs? Those are all subjective answers I suppose, for me it’s just a bummer that there’s only two options for shipping. It’s pretty hard to compete with a gallery or artist that can eat $300 for a one painting in a one month show - just saying.
Last Chance
To see this painting “Protect Ya Neck” before she gets shipped off to another juried show in Texas. part of the “Dog and Pony” exhibition at Core New Art Space, juried by Doug Kacena of K Contemporary
Apparently 2017 has been about doing only juried and curated shows as well as running out of things to do in the Denver art scene, which is kind of a bummer. Oh well at least I can raise my price per square inch.
Re-contextualizing
Greco-roman sculpture through selective deconstruction or ish that would look bad ass in super large scale.
Now What?
Finished up this re-imagined version of Buffalo Bill Cody now it's time to get started on my 2018 show with Core New Art Space.
Just some sketching
5 minute quickie from a couple nights ago of Lola sleeping. Just playing around until a big gallery comes along and realizes I'm good and they want to foster an artist that will do anything to make everyone money. Ha.
Here We Go!
Hung a few of my small works in the annex of Core New Art Space, they'll be on display along with two of my full size painting for the "Dog and Pony" show juried by Doug Kacena of K Contemporary, he also partners with Abend and 1262 Gallery in Triptych. Then I'm shipping one of the paintings off to the Fort Worth Community Art Center in Texas for the "Courage" exhibition. It's been a busy year of juried and curated shows so far.