Upcoming shows!

Excitement! The first is in just a couple weeks and is my friend’s, Michelle Graham, book signing. She was gracious enough to invite myself and a number of other artists to show work that resonates with her new book in the Battle Raven Series. I am bloated with excitement. The other show will be in May, and it’ll be a much bigger production than previous shows I have had the privilege to participate in. I think the 4th through the 6th… or the  6th through the 9th… I’ll have to double check and update this post when I can. I don’t have anything planned yet for the summer but it looks as though The Tea Smith would like for me to have a show at their Old Market location in October… which will also be fun. More information on that as it become available.

One of Many

One of many goals I have as an artist is to never cease improving. Whenever I finish a piece I stand back and stare at what I had done, silently rewarding myself (and it, because I feel my work is a body separate from my own) but ultimately I am always judging it, grading its success and wondering how I could improve on the marks I had made in preparation for my next attempt at creation. I feel like there will never be a point where I will stand back, no matter how skilled I grow, and think that there is in no way I can improve or that I shouldn’t continue improving no matter how satisfied I am in my own ability.

In This Ruined Industry

Here is a poem I just made up…

 

In this ruined industry

I have known only terror

That is illuminated by fury

For the unaccountability of error

At hands apart from mine

At hands longing for direction

But moving without a sign

And not stopping for introspection

No halt in the momentum

Careless and ever onward

Unaware that this is bedlam

Feeling more and more empowered

By this lapse outside confinement

And you stray, you lose your sight

Failing to notice ahead the predicament

You will understand that something is not right

Just in time to crash

Ultimately you failed to see

In the road a gash

Only then you will know that you were free

Only within the legroom of your cage

And while in hand rests the key

Active in your continuation to disparage

The notion that there is another way to be

 

It corresponds with work currently in progress.

We Laughed, We Cried…

Well, I don’t think there was any crying. I hope there wasn’t. At any rate, the show was last night and it was a great turn out. I am grateful to everyone who braved the cold and, for some, the lengthy drive to the gallery. Apart from the elation I experienced seeing my work on display in public (it seemed to take on a completely different personality, or least spoke for itself volumes much louder than it did in my cramped apartment) I really enjoyed all of the positive feedback everyone offered anent my work. Just as enjoyable was the opportunity to discuss my methods and the thought processes behind the creation of the work – not that I was willing to impart too much information. But I delighted most in hearing peoples theories regarding the meaning on everything they saw. Thanks again to everyone who attended and to those that wanted to but couldn’t.

Upcoming Show

6 days till the show. Anxiety attacks, but I’m really excited about it.

Watercolour

My attraction to watercolour is hard to convey. It’s transparent nature has the potential to mystify. When I see a well-done watercolour painting it makes me feel as though I am looking into a distant memory that has just barely escaped obscurity or a ghost that refuses to cut loose its fetters. When I get out my watercolours I do so with the intention of encapsulating or chronicling, in some abstract way, a memory that I feel is at risk of either being forgotten or under-appreciated – but that it was at risk at all of being missed is something I also want to communicate. I’d like to think that anything rendered well in watercolour is an image that will linger with a viewer, haunt them like a restless but congenial ghost.

The Human Figure

If we are to believe that we were created in God’s image and that we are the greatest of his creations, then it stands to reason that the act of creating is the highest form of tribute to the Creator. Furthermore, with humanity as the pinnacle of His work, it is reasonable to assume that artwork that represents the human figure stands above the rest.

Art Show

January, 2011: Friday the 13th
1010 South Main Street, Council Bluffs Iowa
More Information to come soon!