motivation

I found out last week that I will be exhibiting this September at a place in Utica, NY called The Dev. The curator - Steve Nyland - said that "it's a tradition"! That's cool. I have shown the past two Septembers there; but wasn't assuming that I would be this year. Anyway, I'm excited about it!  The Dev is a bar/music venue/art gallery. They do a great job at all three and attract many of the young "arterrati" in Utica. Being informed that I have an up-coming exhibit is just the kick-in-the-ass I needed to get me creating (instead of cleaning and organizing forever). Of course, the cleaning and organizing has helped me with the creative process as well. I'm heading to Copenhagen, Helsinki, and St. Petersburg in August for 10 days; so I'm actually feeling a little pressure to get pieces cranked out (without compromising on quality, of course). I could show pieces I have already made; but I like trying to create as many new pieces for exhibits as I can. I also have a somewhat interested following of my work in the Utica area, so I want to show them new work. Here are a couple I completed today. One is entitled "Her Name Rhymed with a Part of the Human Body". The other is entitled "The Sabine Family Scrabble Game Got WAY Out of Control".

guitar followup

Okay, here is the finished front. Now on to the sides; which will be more technically challenging given the curves.

Guitar collage

I sanded and coated this guitar about a year ago and there it sat in my studio, staring at me. A bit intimidating to start it (even though the guitar only cost me $50). So I "dove in" with the Eiffel Tower element. I had that element for a little while and LOVE it; and wasn't sure I wanted to use it on the guitar. BUT, I LOVED the way it looked on the guitar. Then what? Lots of experimentation with placement of various elements. I didn't want the guitar to look too "messy". I needed larger elements with interesting color and design. The guitar is acoustic, but has built-in electric pick-ups; so I'm not too concerned about how the colaging will affect the sound. I'm pretty satisfied with how it is coming along so far.

Identity and Anonymity: An Artful Anthology

Here's the information if you're interested in purchasing...

http://www.identityandanonymity.com/book.html

"Missenvy"

Back to producing a bit of art. This piece is for a fundraiser for Kirkland Art Center in Clinton, NY. It's 4" x 4" (which all of the submissions will be). I painted the background with Golden watercolor paint before applying the collage elements.

The books have arrived!

... and they look great!

Some very interesting essays, poems and artwork. They are available for purchase if anyone is interested.

It's been a while... again

I have not been producing much art lately. I had a hectic and stressful, yet very productive academic year. My colleague Tyson Kreiger and I FINALLY got our scholarly research paper published (entitled "Nostalgia and Perceptions of Artwork") in the journal Psychological Reports. I also did three conference papers and read some collage-related poetry at the Southern Humanities Conference. In addition, I wrote two articles this year for Kolaj magazine. The culmination of my work this academic year came after graduation, when Jonathan Talbot, Leslie Fandrich and I finished-up editing a book entitled "Identity and Anonymity: An Artful Anthology" which will make its debut as part of the "Identity and Anonymity" exhibit at the Kurt Seligmann Center for the Arts in Sugarloaf, NY, THIS SUNDAY. It's a wonderful collection of essays, poems and artwork (and is available for purchase if you're interested).
My studio work over the last couple weeks has consisted mostly of cleaning and organizing (with some sketching). I realized recently that I have been mostly accumulating and cluttering, without much culling and organizing over the last 6 years. Again, a productive 6 years; but nonetheless. I am hoping that very soon I will be "back in the saddle" and producing a lot, again (I have a fantasy that cleaning and organizing will help with that pursuit... although with the way my monkey brain works, who knows?). Here are a few shots from the "monkeybrain studio" ;-)