impossible to photograph

I think my paintings should be seen in person.  This blog is being made redundant.

The Sweat of His Brow, 72" x 73", charcoal, crayon, gesso, paper on un-stretched canvas inside a custom wood box

liar

I keep getting asked, when are the windfall of posts coming?  They will arrive when my clone gets out of bed.  He hurt his back.

coming back . . .

My mind has been quite busy in the last month considering my next plot moves, so I've neglected my millions of blog reader.  In the next week you'll get served a windfall of posts.

In the meantime you should know that I have started and almost finished a 6' x 6' canvas and, with the help of Bruce Dorfman, have finally articulated my concept, statement, and process.  This artistic holy trinity will help propel me into the spotlight, even if it's just one of those side spotlights.

new old paintings

Just when I thought they were done (much like a never-ending winter), they called out for another coat.  Here are two new renditions . . . I guess this is why artists actually sell their work . . . so they won't have to ponder how to make pieces better.  But this is the exact reason why I'm not selling my work.  I'm waiting until the time is right and I have a collective story to tell with these pieces.

Echo, 48" x 60", charcoal, gesso, acrylic, paper, and pastel on canvas

Hey Zeus, Maria, 48" x 60", charcoal and acrylic on canvas

studio visit: another canvas on another wall

I took the painting entitled Addie and added a few layers to her.  There are a few more canvases eagerly awaiting the same treatment . . . or not.  They're not really speaking to me this week.

charon floating toward adulthood

Charon Floating Toward Adulthood, 36" x 36", acrylic, pastel, paper on canvas, 2013

Although the white-washed pieces are fantastic--and I want to continue exploring that palette and the softening and addition of layers--the color here feels quite strong and not overpowering.  I like the effect.  It opens up the work to more interpretation and space.  

I believe the work is maturing nicely.  And I like the structure of having a day job with limited time allotted to creation.  It gives me time to ponder and solve problems before putting my hands on the work.  Now I just need to find my sense of humor again, and some threads of sociability.

narcissus no more

Narcissus No More, 60" x 48", acrylic, pastel, charcoal, paper on canvas, 2013

I finally finished my painting from the model whose pose was interrupted by Sandy.  I felt conflicted with the model, and it was seen in my sculpture of him.  Someone suggested that I made him older than he actually was, and when I looked around the room, it seemed that most others made him much younger.  My theory is that the model himself was conflicted with his age.  I have a few friends like that...who do not like getting older and try their damnest to hold on to their youth with superficial veils.

The model was gay (I'm assuming with great confidence).  He was in his fifties, with dyed brown hair, and I think it's quite possible that he had some eye work done.  I couldn't quite get confortable with him and the sculpture ended up feeling overworked and tortured.  Could it be because he passed gas and gurgle burped during his poses?  And then left during the five minute breaks and came back reeking of cigarette smoke--the deathly stench of someone who has been smoking one plus pack a day for 30 plus years.  And I don't think he liked me very much, which didn't help matters.  He would study me with neither curiosity nor admiration when the lazy Susan put us face to face.  It was unnerving.

Then superstorm Sandy arrived.  The studio was closed for over a week, and I found my poor sculpture desiccated when I visited him again.  So for this painting I created a collage with a photograph of the sculpture included alongside a sketch of an ex-lover of mine.  I love the play between the two figures, and I'm quite happy with the results.

Perhaps the brother of "Our Immaculate Lady Pigeon"?

Our Immaculate Lady Pigeon, 24" x 18", acrylic, pastel, charcoal, paper on canvas, 2012 

studio visit: connie

We only have four more days with our January model.  I have tons of work left to do, but this feeling has come over me: she's sort of my first year final exam.  February 1 will mark the one year anniversary of sculpting.  I believe it's time to try my hand at casting.  But then what do I do with the sculpture?

happy new year

I had a great holiday in Alabama, then a super fun party at my apartment to bring in the New Year.  But I've been quite sluggish at work and in the studio, as my novel consumes a great deal of my creative energy.  I just follow my intuition and do as it tells me.  I should begin taking him to dinner.  The one visual art contemplation I'm having these days is about the four big 'Becoming' paintings.  They're giving me an unsettled feeling, which could either mean, move on, or do something else with them.

alma

One more quick post before heading off to Miami.

I present the four best pre-deconstruction images from the shoot with my latest sculpture.  The sculpture was formed from the model Alma (who was also the female in my latest drawing series . . . she had dreads back then), a 23 year old model, who I found very hard to read.  I never could tell how she was feeling, as if she herself didn't know how.  What I liked about her was her curiosity and soft demeanor, and her body was pretty fantastic.  Should I admit to you that this was the first female model I felt curious about sexually?

'Gawkward' coo the chorus of homosexuals.

Thanks Alma for a great sitting.  Best of luck in graduate school.

winter is coming

As the weather turned mild here in New York, I was inspired to share these photos that I shot this past summer.  I am in the process of printing them in large and small sizes.

studio visit: narcissus no more

I think it might be finished.  Going to let it dry and collect a few days of dust and decide on Tuesday.  Edit the next morning: it's not quite done, but almost there!

studio visit: this is what I'm working on now

I'm not sure how long it will be before it's finished...I've yet to incorporate the image from the last sculpture, which is supposed to be what this painting is about.  He was at the bottom, at the foot of the man pictured here, who was an old lover of mine . . . this was a photo I snapped of him years ago.  You can imagine that parts of his body were fun to bounce on.  Conversely, the experience with the model was quite unusual and uncomfortable.  Will write more about it later once I've incorporated him into the composition.  For now, here is a painting in progress.  See if you can catch it move.

new drawing process

It took me a long time to find joy with my drawing, but I think I finally found it with soft pastels.

another new one but familiar

Our Immaculate Lady Pigeon, 24" x 18", 2012 acrylic, charcoal, soft pastel on canvas

This painting was once called my "first painting" a long, long time ago.   I couldn't bear to look at it anymore, so I started working on it again.  I heard Walton Ford in an interview once say that it takes a lot for a painting to stand the test of time.  If that's the case, then do I sell them as soon as the paint is dry (a gallerist's dream) or hold onto them for a while and wait and see if they stand up to time?

new painting

Addie, 48" x 60", acrylic, gesso, charcoal and soft pastel on canvas

I didn't work on the sculpture that inspired this painting for very long...actually probably only five days for ten hours in total.  But very shortly after I took the photo, I knew the colors and layout.  I only spent two days on this painting, about five hours in total.  The first day it took me almost three hours to draw the figure in charcoal onto the canvas and then use black gesso and pastel to fill in the bottom portion.  On the second day I attacked the figure and the top portion.  I had no idea it would take so little time, but there was a point when it felt ready.  The energy expended was exhausting, but the endorphins that coursed through me once the work was complete kept me from falling asleep.

It was this painting that created the title for the series: "Becoming."  It's the moment when you realize you're alive...that moment between life and death when eternity seems possible.  As humans become more robotic, enlightenment, even brief patches, is God.

new painting: hey zeus, maria

Hey Zeus, Maria, 60" x 36", Acrylic and charcoal on canvas

This one came from a sculpture of a model who has become a friend.  Again, I want to mix the mythic with the religious.  Can you guess what the title means?

Two Weeks Project

One print a day for two weeks.  This is the outcome.

 

Two Weeks Project Day Fourteen: What it Means to Be Gay (Final Draft)

What it Means to Be Gay (Final Draft), 24" x 20", C-Print, 2012

For information on the Two Weeks project click here.

Two Weeks Project Day Thirteen: Urban Center

Urban Center, 24" x 20", C-Print, 2012

For information on the Two Weeks project click here.

Two Weeks Project Day Twelve: Self Censure

Self Censure, 20" x 24", C-Print, 2012

For information on the Two Weeks project click here.

Two Weeks Project Day Eleven: When I Used to Hook Up with Strangers

When I Used to Hook Up with Strangers, 20" x 24", C-Print, 2012

For information on the Two Weeks project click here.

Two Weeks Project Day Ten: Purgatory After This

Purgatory After This, 20" x 24", C-Print, 2012

In my exploration of using materials I've used in the past to create images, I decided to use ones from the past week and two days.

For information on the Two Weeks project click here.

Two Weeks Project Day Nine: Into the Woods

Into the Woods, 24" x 20", C-Print, 2012

For information on the Two Weeks project click here.

Two Weeks Project Day Eight: Back from Dead

Back from Dead, 20" x 24", C-print, 2012

For information on the Two Weeks project click here.