Fat February

Okay! Month two of 2015 is going slow, so slow that I am posting this on the first day of March.  I am hoping my students will be finished with their first project by the end of the month, so they can get started on project 2 and 3. My studio is plugging along with nothing in the works as far as a show.  Generating future plans for future paintings. I am really just building things that are of an interest to myself. I have been cutting more vinyl stencils so far this year and am happy with the outcomes right now. I have decided that the size of the paintings I have been making could get a little bit bigger, the smallest dimension should be fifteen inches.  

 New shape panels

Size varies

These are going to start to develop into something more meaningful than just random shapes. I am researching places I have lived over my life and the boundaries that are meaningful within.  But until I have the research done on these I am just going to have fun with shapes.  

Here's the 'works in progress' wall, really liking what's going on but really ready to move to the next phase with some oil paint.  Would really like to find somewhere to show this body of work in the future.  Also I have been making some new panels and have been really working on the craft part of it.  Plugs for screw holes, maybe some lap joints, and I really want to give dovetailing a try both by hand and with a router.

I'm really into ponchos right now. Just to catch you up on my graduate school status, here are the results so far; two schools have said no, one has said I am #2 on the wait list and I have not heard from the other two, which makes me feel like I may be on their wait lists as well. 

Good Thoughts People, thanks.  

First Post of 2015 THE JANUARY POST

New Found Drugstore Happiness

Mixed Media on Panel

14 1/8" x 15 3/8"

2014

So all of my Grad. School Applications have been submitted and the waiting game has begun.

Above is a painting I was able to finish just before the new year and am quite happy with it.  Looking forward to getting into the studio more this Spring, I have a pile of panels started and need to finish.  If I can save some money I am going to start sending out flyers to find representation outside of KCMO. Debating with myself if I should apply to the Midwest addition of New American Painters this year. Most likely will have plenty of good images and it really doesn't hurt to apply just a little $$$. 

Process shots:  I have been working on this painting for about year the top image is really close to the beginning of its start the lower image is from 1/19/2015.  This painting is one that has been fighting me to find its finished state but I am pleased with where it is headed and I hope it gets finished this spring.  Metallic Enamel Paint is my new best friend now!

So a little while back the Charlotte Street Foundation was looking for images to turn into buttons and I submitted this little fellow above.  I never heard anything about these buttons after that. So I am going to try to get some buttons made and give out to my friends and whoever wants one.  Will keep you posted on these I may need to make some variants. This all will depend on taxes and if I can save money and make money.  But I really want to make these.

Okay last but not the least here is an in progress image of one of my shaped paintings these are really something different to work with, still researching the shapes and where they need to come from. The progress of this one has been quite enjoyable for me. I have only been painting on it for a couple of  sessions.

New Studio Space

Hi all here is the first view of my newest studio space.

(photo courtesy of Kendra Werst)

This is the cleanest it will be and was I have been busy since moving in around the beginning of last month.

Bunch of New Panels & a Surface Planer

15 Panels in progress plus a Cigar Box taking on the after effects.

Most of these are under 10 inches both dimensions.  Town Pavilion Studio, Luke Firle.

 

Planing down solid wood surfaces for more panels at the Style Lab outdoor work space.

Man I love the smell of sawdust this photo is deceiving on the pile size.

Thanks to Sike for the use of his outdoor work space.

Mural with paintings

Here is a shot from Open Studios again.  I painted a mural and installed eight paintings on top.  The mural is something I am considering doing in a future exhibition.  Half of these paintings are finished and half are not.

small paintings

Here are 3 small paintings that are in progress all of them are mixed media on panel.

They are part of an on going group that I am hoping to show soon.

Paintings on Canvas

Splashdown Takeoff Stump in the Yard

Acrylic and oil on canvas

38 3/8" x 29 1/2"

2012

Oh Inverted Firebird (Circa 1973)

Mixed Media on canvas

38 3/8" x 29 1/2"

2012

in the collection of Waseem Touma

An install, and the studio in July

This is a quick installation shot of one of my curve forms(maquette size) that hangs on a wall in its new home.  Thanks to Mrs. Kim Higgins for providing the new home.  It was installed this past May.

  

And here is the July studio shot.  I have been trying to do one of these a month.  This is the east wall.

Maquette groups, a painting, & a list of music

1st Photo is of a group of maquettes that I would like to make more of they are mixed media on wood forms dimensions variable.  The 2nd Photo is of a group of maquettes that I am working on and may make into wood forms but are right now made of mixed media on cardboard & paperboard.  The 3rd Photo is of a new painting on paper I am working on, that I happen to enjoy right now it is mixed media on paper.

And here is my list of music from the other night while working on these works and contemplating the collaborations between Phil (SIKE) Shaffer & myself.

1. Gogol Bordello                   Gyspy Punks
2. Gnarls Barkley                    St. Elsewhere
3. Flock of Seagulls                 I Ran (single)
4. Fleetwood Mac                   Landslide (single)
5. Smashing Pumpkins            B-sides box set from Mellon Collie                                                                 & the Infinite Sadness

OH, my these are small paintings

So these two paintings are super small for me no side over 12".

The image of the one on top is finished but still needs a title.

The image of the one on the bottom is not finished but does have a working title Victorian Dinosaurs.

 I also have two more of these small paintings that at this time are very early in the works.

All of these will be on view at the UCP open studio's on the weekend of May 18-19, my studio is in the Town Pavilion Building at 1100 Walnut St. Kansas City MO, for more information about the open studio's go to www.charlottestreet.org or www.urbanculturestudioresidents.wordpress.com.

Another new painting

Unfurled Flags, Banners, & Scrolls

30" x 22"

Mixed Media on Paper

New Painting

My ADIDAS Are Better Than Yours!
22" x 30"
Mixed Media on paper

marker drip

Table shot

So its been a busy March so far. I have been in lots of meetings for a # of projects that sound super fun. Plus there have been 3 more studio visits since my wife came by. Many thanks to the visitors Heather Lustfeldt, Warren Rosser, and Brady Haston. I am trying to set up some more of these visits as I build new stuff to paint, I am always interested in any feedback I can get.