I don't like water parks.

Hello... is it me you're looking for?

2010-10-05T11:05:00.000-07:00

Other things have been going on other than just concerts, dinners, visitors from far off places, etc. There has been much activity in the studio also. My work over the last six months has changed quite a bit. From pure abstract to a more figurative and image based type of picture. I finally got bored painting the abstract pictures. There were too many rules. Self-imposed rules that I thought I had to follow in order to get the image I wanted. I thought if I was bored painting them maybe they were boring to look at. I decided to paint a picture like I used to draw when I was a kid. When there were no rules. So I just painted things I was interested in. I like the new direction. It is more personal. There is more of myself in the work and it makes for a more coherent picture.

These pics are not pro so they are small and bad but you get the point. The top one is the last abstract one I

made followed by the first two of the new. The second is complete and the third was just finished so I do not

have a picture of it. Just wanted to give a little hint to what I have been up to. I like it.

Oh, one more thing. About three weeks ago I was doing the dishes and got a phone call from someone not

on my contact list. Usually I do not answer and wait for message. For some reason I picked up. It was a

curator I had a show with this past March at the Black Walnut gallery, 220 N. Aberdeen Chicago, Il. in the meat

packing/gallery district. He invited me to be in his Fall show. Fall shows are good, start of the season and all.

Anyway, I have never been invited to be in a show. I have always applied. It is much more fun to be invited

than to apply. Much less work which is key.

If you want to see my work live and in technicolor come to the gallery on Friday the fifteenth of October

between five and eight in the evening. I have five pieces in the show and there are four other artists there also.

I was gone and now I am found.

2010-10-04T13:00:00.000-07:00

I know I have been away for awhile. For no good or real reason other than being really busy and kinda lazy. There has been a lot going on the last few months so I will be busy for the next couple weeks writing about it here.

I will start with my birthday. We had plans to see Rufus Wainwright and have a classic Chicago dinner at Gene & Georgetti's steakhouse. What I did not know was, Sallie, my mother in law, arranged a room for the night at The Drake Hotel. Jen managed to keep it a secret right up until the last moment. I had no idea what was going on until we pulled up to The Drake. I then realized how I looked. I was wearing shorts and an old T-shirt, I had not shaved in a couple days, and my hair had not been combed that day. I am in the lobby of this really nice hotel and I look like a homeless guy. Whatever, the room was nice.

We got ready and had a cab swing us over to the steakhouse. Gene & Georgetti's is real old school Chicago. Our bartender was about seventy years old and made a perfect Perfect Manhattan. He was great because the drinks were dynamite and there was minimal small talk. There was no flair covered imbecile asking me what was in a Manhattan instead of making me a Manhattan. Couple drinks and ready to eat. Dinner was as dinner is at a place like that, real good. Stuffed, buzzed, and in a cab to the theater.

Rufus played at the Bank of America theater, which, other than its name, is very old and grand. So, right before the show this guy comes out and says for the first half of the show there will be no applause or noise of any kind. Jen and I look at each other and without saying anything both say, oh boy, here we go. Then Rufus saunters out wearing Herman Munster shoes and cape with a train that was about fifteen feet long, no shit. Because of his shoes he can't just walk out on stage, he is kinda doing the wedding walk. You know the one step then the next then pause. So he finally makes it to the piano and starts to play.

His latest record is a farewell to his mother who died earlier this year and is sad and slow. Rufus plays most of that record and maybe all of it. By that time I wanted to hear some other stuff. He finally makes through and thanks us all for doing what he asked and walks off stage. I look at Jen and hope that is not the whole show. Not that it was bad, you know. Then the same guy from earlier pops out and say short intermission be back in ten. Oh good. Quick smoke and back in the seats. Rufus came back out and rocked the grand ballroom like only he can. Applause. Encore. Back in cab to the hotel. Couple nightcaps at the bar. Goodnight. All in all one of the greatest birthdays ever.

Two Weeks, One Wonk, Busy

2010-07-01T18:16:00.000-07:00

The Edgewater Arts Festival is coming up. It is the first annual Edgewater Arts Festival. I am a part of it and have been hard at work getting ready for it. Should be good. It is at Berger Park right on the lake and will have fine food, music, etc. I am sharing a gallery space (booth) with a friend of mine, Malory, who creates original jewelry. Her stuff is very good. Malory and I work at a pub and grill in the neighborhood. There is a certain customer who is on the committee in charge of the whole shebang. She kinda hooked us up a bit with placement in the fest. That is nice. I have a few paintings I am taking and some less expensive drawings. Maybe I can make some of that elusive cash everyone keeps talking about. More info on the fest later.

My Basil and Parsley are coming in very good. The guys in the back are not doing as well as the dudes in front. Gonna have to change the guys to a different place. I figure in the next two weeks we will have beautiful fresh Basil and Parsley. You can put Basil and Parsley on anything and it is good. We are very excited about the herbs. The flowers are blooming slow and steady. Things are well on the balcony.

Speaking of balcony. I made a trip to the Target store this week. Target=$100.00. Instantly.

We have been looking for a small table for the front balcony for some time now. We just could not find one that was cheap and sorta nice. Wandering around the garden department I noticed a clearance section, my favorite kind of section. Amongst the rummage I noticed this nice little black metal table. It was foldable and thirty two dollars. It went in the cart. This table has made our balcony a great little place to hang out. We have been having dinner out there the last couple nights. It is great. Nice little bistro on our front balcony.

Enjoying the summer. The summer is going fast. July already. The rest of the summer is going to be busy. Let's see... we got the fourth, then Jason is coming, then Edgewater Arts Fest, then Jen's birthday, then my birthday, then Rufus, then Ricky. Gonna be awesome.

The Taste of Chicago is going on right now and we went down there on Tuesday night. Los Lobos were playing a free concert. Sweet. Los Lobos are great. Jim and I hop the "L" and meet Lori and Jen after work. We grab a few beers and find a seat on the lawn. After unfolding our chairs and plopping down I started on my odyssey to find the ever coveted BBQ Turkey leg that Manny's does every year. Not quite a delicacy, but very good. Then it was off to find grilled corn on the cob. Back to the seats and friends. Tear through turkey and corn, a few more beers, couple shots of peppermint schnapps, a round of buzzed Frisbee, and the band finally came on. Los Lobos were great and for the encore Robert Plant came out and sang with them. Yeah, that's right, I said Robert Plant. We could not believe it either. No one at the show could believe it. I guess they are doing some project together so they have been playing here and there. That was pretty neat, I have to say.

That is enough for now. No one reads this shit anyway so who cares. Have a great night.

Peace.

Just kidding. I hate that peace thing.

Check back soon.

Reboot studio time

2010-06-18T06:10:00.000-07:00

let me start by saying i do not like the cable company. water parks and the cable company. and spiders.

now that i have that out of the way: i have had a couple stale weeks in the studio and was not very excited to be in there yesterday, so i decided to clean it. this is not as big of a deal as it sounds, it only took about three hours. not something i am ever dying to do--but because my studio is in what used to be our dinning room i cannot let it get too out of hand.

earlier in the week i finally got around to setting up and installing the software i needed to download movies from the super awesome camcorder i received from my friend Sallie for Christmas. i had about twenty movies on there ranging from two seconds to about twenty minutes. after erasing just about all of them i got to thinking... oh know... i know.

side-note: i do have some pretty good footage of Shawnee, Mike, and Sophie at the dog beach in San Diego. gonna see if i can make something out of it.

what i ended up doing yesterday was this: cleaned the studio and filmed it!! doesn't sound like much fun to watch. i can hear you saying that. do not worry. i did it stop-motion style. the whole affair lasts about five seconds. it is the first time i have ever done anything like this. i think it turned out kinda cool.

here is a little tip havin' nothin' to do wit nothin'.

Kinky Freidman. i have heard of him. i have heard his music. i even saw him on Charlie Rose once. cannot remember why he was on the show. anyway, did you know Kinky was an author? neither did i. he is.

a couple months ago a friend of mine gave me four Kinky detective books. i wouldn't call them novels, although they are novel. they turned out to be GREAT. all under 200 pages. all a quick read. all very fun. like old pulp fiction before it became Pulp Fiction. if you can get your hands on a couple of these you will like them i am sure. perfect for summer reading at park, beach, etc.

Cancun Blues

2010-06-09T12:16:00.000-07:00

we have been home from Cancun for about a month. it was lovely. we have never had a resort style vacation and we did not know what to expect. we did the all-inclusive thing and it was very relaxing. our biggest concern was whether to lay by the pool or lay on the beach. turns out you can do both and that is what we usually did. one in the morning and the other in the afternoon. seven glorious days. we did leave the resort one day to go zip-lining and dune buggy driving through the Mexican jungle, which proved to be very fun. if you find yourself in Cancun and want something like that check them out. lots of fun and very cool. selvatica.com.mx

we have been slowing coming out of our post vacation depression. that feeling following any extended vacation. i finally got around to downloading and organizing our photos from the trip. since i have this thing going i thought i would post a couple so my three readers can see them. one of my readers was with me so that leaves two. they did not allow pictures of us zip-lining for safety reasons so there are no pictures of that.

here she is about to literally drink melted chocolate. fondue dessert. when they brought this out she almost cried. then she tried to drink it.

here we are on the beach having dinner and lots of wine. lots.

this is the view from our private villa. in the background you can just see a glimpse of our private pool. this is where we would spend the afternoons. lounging and sleeping under those thatched roofs. we would periodically be gingerly awakened by the bartender to see if we needed refills.

this is me before dune buggy. excited and ready.

this is us during dune buggy. so far so good.

this me after dune buggy. head to toe Mexican clay mud.

that stuff sticks to everything. everything. i did not have to worry though. right after this we were taken to a swimming hole in the middle of the jungle. seventy degree water. jumped right in and cleaned off a bit.

here i am rocking the outdoor shower. that's right, i said outdoor shower. outdoor showers are cool.

Good Advice #1

2010-06-03T15:52:00.000-07:00

when i was an undergrad at cal state long beach i received a very good bit of guidance from one of my instructors, Tony Marsh. Tony and i were talking one day about how artists work in the studio. how every artist uses a different approach to their studio practice. i asked him about how he does it. what was his deal behind that closed door. we could all see his studio. few of us knew what went on in there. it was like that Tom Waits song/poem on the record Mule Variations--what's he building in there. Tony said that one of his favorite things to do is sit and watch his kids play. how kids have the ability to get lost in whatever they were doing. kids can build whole worlds out of wooden blocks, legos, etc. Tony is amazed by imagination. Tony said when he goes into the studio he tries to get lost in his work and imagination just like his kids did when they played.
i have carried that nugget around with me for the last seven or so years. through grad school and beyond. my best days are when i go into the studio and emerge hours later not realizing hours have gone by. the work is almost automatic. almost. sometimes when everything is running smooth and the engine is purring i am amazed at the amount of work i can get done.
i was reminded of this today when i went in THERE. i have been painting for the last four years but my background is ceramics and sculpture. i recently have been slightly bored with my painting. haven't stopped but a little bored. i decided to build something. something small. something fun. something i could do in a relatively short time. just to get my shit back. practice and all that.
so there i sat. nothing. so i sat. listened to whatever was on the turntable. sit. listen. then i just started fucking around. putting square pegs in round holes. drilling things. sanding things. gluing things. taping things.
then it started.
i realized, not for the first time, what had happened. it's what Tony was talking about. ultimately his point is--you gotta put in the time. if you spend enough time in THERE something is going to happen. it is not about waiting for something inspiring to happen and then you go work. it is about working when you do not want to . getting in THERE when it is the last thing you want to do . work. work. work.
thank you Tony.

It's the list--that Goddamn list

2010-06-02T14:34:00.000-07:00

the to-do list. that list some of us live by and others definitely need to live by. i could not conduct my life with any semblance of order without my list. the list rarely gets completed completely. it is, however, something to strive for. the list is usually written by me. on occasion it is written by my wonderful wife. in the end it does not matter who writes the list. the list must be attempted with rigor and focus. i have house lists, i have art lists, i have shopping lists, i have lists about my lists. i have painted my lists. are you getting it? the list represents personal history, aspirations, goals. to do battle with ones list is to really be alive. it is a reminder not to be a douche bag. not to be a ne'er-do-well. not to be ordinary. if one does not finish a list one is a loser. if one does finish a list one is a winner. (side note: Elliot Smith just came on the trusty 'ol ipod. that makes me happy. and sad.) the feeling of finishing a list is triumph. it is victory. it gives one permission to so something fun, usually in the form of something bad.

Prince no king in NY Times review

2010-05-28T07:09:00.000-07:00

just got done reading the latest review of Richard Prince's new show at gagosian. i generally like his work and his content can be quite funny. joke paintings--literally funny--and--is painting a joke? sometimes. muscle cars, cowboys from certain cig ads, sexy nurses, etc. we all know the stuff pretty well. like I said--I tend to enjoy his work. mr. prince is very successful at setting up a visual with double meaning, usually, with a great amount of irony. his work is convincing in the sense that I believe he works hard at it.
ken johnson--art critic for the NY TIMES--has had enough. he says prince's new series--the "TIffany" paintings--is utterly predictable and crushingly obvious series of canvases at Gagosian Gallery. he goes on to say, all of this seems so neatly calculated that it is hard to believe that Mr. Prince has any personal stake in trying to reconcile the sacred and the profane. If his play with the semiotics of painting, consumerism and journalism were more surprising, that wouldn’t matter, but as it is, these works feel stale.
now, i have told you how i feel about prince's previous stuff. after seeing images of the paintings on the internet i will agree with mr. johnson. i know you can't really GET UP IN IT when you are not standing in front of a painting but you get the gist. the general feel. visually the images just feel boring and used. i felt i had seen something like that before. they were very familiar.
i encourage you to read to full review. johnson is much better at being an art critic than i am. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/28/arts/design/28gagosian.html?src=twt&twt=nytimesarts. it is pretty good. mr. johnson talks some shit. i like him.
i still like mr. prince and most of his work but you cannot hit a home run every time. it is nice to see him get called out. mr. prince is a very successful artist and i am positive that whatever he does next is going to be high and tight.
idle hands are the devils plaything.

Thursday, or as I like to call it Sunday

2010-05-27T15:11:00.000-07:00

well--here we are. this is my first one of these so lets get to it! sitting here watching Julie/Julia after a small/large (depending on how you look at it) disaster in the studio. i had a fresh layer of tape and paint on the panel and it was dry and it was ready to peel. i started peeling. FUCK! for some reason the paint peeled with the tape. awesome. i am using house paint for the first time (cheap and plentiful. tired of giving Dick Blick money. that guy is a dick.) Warning-when using house paint do not put it on too thick. lesson learned. sand, tape, paint. sand, tape, paint. SAND, TAPE, PAINT. there is a drawing in THERE that i just can't seem to finish or give a shit about--for some reason. it is good too--i think. i think it has to do with my ADD. i do not have ADD--but i might. i am having trouble putting in hours. stupid shit gets in the way. mostly my laziness. i cannot blame me. i am to blame. the details and minutia of actually being an artist--the shit they do not teach you about in school--can sometimes be elusive to me. i need to figure out a way to make my practice quicker. the gold at the end of the rainbow. i am thinking about using a professional printer to make large prints from my drawings. i gotta buddy who tells me they can print it right onto canvas or wood. i might do it. i will let you know. oh boy these pork chops are gonna be good.