Review review

”The Red Show” has more alizarin per square inch than any show in town, with the possible exception of “Tesoros,” the PMA’s roundup of colonial Latin American art. While “Tesoros” runneth over with blood-red hearts and flowing red robes, the Mayer show—commissioned new works by 13 gallery artists and one outsider—is mostly abstract. By design or by serendipity, the show suggests the season’s festivities: bubbles and ribbons, ebullience, love and optimism. Tim McFarlane’s big, bold All That Could Be—a monochromatic work in shades of pink and wine—continues the artist’s motif of overlapping ladders that suggest teeming masses of people. Contemplative like Rothko but more generous and community-spirited, this piece may have antiwar underpinnings. For me, the title nods to the Army’s old “Be All You Can Be” slogan, and the flow is tinged with blood. Also notable in a solid show are Neil Anderson’s eye-popping Red Dancer and Charles Burwell’s Red Line With Three Figures. (Burwell is a new artist with the gallery.) Kate Davis Caldwell’s faux Polaroid paintings and Michael Manuel’s eco-themed stained glass with audio component by Clint Takeda are reminders of beauty’s fragility. Excellent show. (Roberta Fallon)

I've had a little time to think about what was written about my painting in the above review of The Red Show at Bridgette Mayer. For the most part, I have no problem with what was written about my painting, All That Could Be, or the show, but this line caught my attention:, ...this piece may have antiwar underpinnings. For me, the title nods to the Army’s old “Be All You Can Be” slogan, and the flow is tinged with blood.

I'd like to put another angle on what Roberta wrote, the angle that All That Could Be originally sprang from. At the outsest, I relished the challenge of working within the constraints of a certain color. The next level of meaning didn't surface until I was well into working on it. Sometime between start and finish, the idea of a title came to mind. All That Could Be came to mind because of the open-ended sense of possibility the phrase has. Some of that optimism has to do with recent events in my personal life. The reds, pinks and oranges I used, likened to blood flowing in the review, I saw as being akin to passion and life. As much as red can stand for violence and loss of life, it can also stand for the opposite.

Here is where the world of the artist and the viewer diverge greatly: what the artist is feeling or thinking during the concieving of a work of art means absolutely nothing because every person looking at or interacting with that piece of artwork will bring their own history, beliefs, and ideas to the piece. The work will mean one thing for the artist and can mean a thousand other things once it's out in the public. That's nothing new, but this is the firs time that I felt that the interpretation of my work in a widely read publication was at such a variance from the spirit of which the painting was created.

Puryear at Moma in '07

I was just perusing Tyler Green's Modern Art Notes and came upon this bit of news that almost made me have an art orgasm. Martin Puryear is one of my favorite contemporary artists and I'm very happy that he's finally getting a long-overdue retrospective at MoMa in late 2007. Images of his work can be seen on this page.

I've loved Puryear's works for years and got to see a bunch of them up close and personal at a large exhibition of his works at the Philadelphia Museum of Art almost 12 years ago, probably more. My memory isn't always the best, but I do remember Puryear being shown at the PMA a good while ago. I'll see if I can find mention of it somewhere.

His work is amazingly beautiful, powerful, and seductive all at once. I can't always put my finger on it, but Martin Puryear's sculptures have a way of drawing me in and I don't care to resist at all. He's one of those artists who pulls together craftsmanship and formal interests in a way that goes beyond the limitations of labels like 'craft' or 'fine art'. Puryear's work trandscends such labels simply because it is good, solid art.

This exhibition will definitely be on my 'must see' list for 2007

the red show-review

I've just come across a link for the first review of The Red Show, the latest exhibition I'm involved with at the Bridgette Mayer Gallery through this Saturday, December 23rd.


All That Could Be, 2006, acrylic on canvas, 60" x 84"

Review on Philadelphia Weekly's website

Same review with photos and additional commentary (scroll down to "weekly update 2-the red show")

“The Red Show”

Through Dec. 23. Bridgette Mayer Gallery, 709 Walnut St. 215.413.8893. www.mayer artconsultants.com
”The Red Show” has more alizarin per square inch than any show in town, with the possible exception of “Tesoros,” the PMA’s roundup of colonial Latin American art. While “Tesoros” runneth over with blood-red hearts and flowing red robes, the Mayer show—commissioned new works by 13 gallery artists and one outsider—is mostly abstract. By design or by serendipity, the show suggests the season’s festivities: bubbles and ribbons, ebullience, love and optimism. Tim McFarlane’s big, bold All That Could Be—a monochromatic work in shades of pink and wine—continues the artist’s motif of overlapping ladders that suggest teeming masses of people. Contemplative like Rothko but more generous and community-spirited, this piece may have antiwar underpinnings. For me, the title nods to the Army’s old “Be All You Can Be” slogan, and the flow is tinged with blood. Also notable in a solid show are Neil Anderson’s eye-popping Red Dancer and Charles Burwell’s Red Line With Three Figures. (Burwell is a new artist with the gallery.) Kate Davis Caldwell’s faux Polaroid paintings and Michael Manuel’s eco-themed stained glass with audio component by Clint Takeda are reminders of beauty’s fragility. Excellent show. (Roberta Fallon)

Looking ahead

'Pulse'

I've had that word on my mind for quite a while now. Originally, I was going to use it as the title for my latest painting (All That Could Be) but chose not to. Last night, as I was laying in bed attempting to get to some realm of sleep, 'pulse' came to mind again. I thought that I might use it to title my upcoming solo exhibition at Bridgette Mayer in June '07. That's six months down the line and there's still the little issue of actually having work done for it. Still, I don't think it's too early to have something to think about as I'm doing the paintings and whatever else I wind up with for the show.

There are a lot of ideas bouncing around in my head for paintings, works on paper and even an installation. I've had some ideas for one for a while now, and I'd love to use the vault room in the gallery for it. Now, all I need to do is whittle down these ideas into one that's workable and I'll be fine...

New painting

All That Could Be, 2006, acrylic on canvas, 60" x 84"
(click image for full view)

Currently on view at the Bridgette Mayer Gallery as part of The Red Show through December 23rd, 2006.

Naming

All That Could Be
That's the title of the new painting. I've been trying to come up with something for the past couple of days and this is the first one that I liked. I wanted to avoid anything that featured the word 'red'. The exhibition is titled, The Red Show and the painitng is mostly red, so why make things more redundant?

Titles don't always come easy. If something doesn't hit me right away, I'll wait and let the work sit for a bit before attempting to name it. Honestly, most of the time, I'd not bother with titles, but I also hate using 'Untitled'. I do, here and there, but I try to avoid it when I can.

All That Could Be came to me today while at work. I was thinking about what I was listening to a lot while working on the painting. During one session last week, I was listening to some Nine Inch Nails. I hadn't done so in a while, but I'd recently purchased the latest book about the work of graphic designer David Carson, whose work I'm a fan of and who designed the cover for NIN's The Fragile. Nine Inch Nails has a live dvd titled, "And All That Could Have Been".

Love the title, but it was kind of the opposite of what I felt the painting was about. So, I inverted the meaning and wording to suit my needs. The suggestion of possibilities in All That Could Be appeals to me on a lot of levels in my life right now...

Ahead of schedule

I actually think the painitng is done. I'm pretty sure of it, at least. I did'nt think I'd get this far so fast with it. I like surprises that come out of nowhere like this. I'll have to look at it again tomorrow with fresh eyes, but I'm feeling pretty good about how it looks now.

I'm always a little skeptical when things work out sooner than I think they will with paintings. I just had this fear in the beginning that this piece was going to be tougher to bring to a resolution because of the size. Of course, there's still a week to go before I have to get it to the gallery, so who knows what may happen. Usually, once I feel a piece is done, that's it. I don't mess with it any more.

Busy stuff

Life has been crazy busy lately, both with good and bad. More good than bad, though. The bad is that I've been battling an eye infection-Uveitis. It's a swelling of the eye that anyone can get but is usually caused by some underlying health issue. I went today to have blood drawn so my doctors can figure out if there's anything else I should be looking after. Beyond that, I'm taking drops and the redness in my right eye is just about gone.

The rest of the busyness has to do with a large painting I'm working on for the next group show at Bridgette Mayer, The Red Show, opening on December 28th with reception on Friday, December 1st. The big deal about the painting is that it's 5' x 7', the largest canvas I've worked on in a long while. I thought I'd have a difficult time stretching it, but it came together much easier than I thought. I must be learning something because it's also one of the tightest canvas I've stretched. I thought it would have been sagging much, much more than it is at this point, as I've been working on it for a couiple of weeks now.

I actually considered having a stretcher fram made for this project, but with little time to work with, just about a month at the time, I purchased the stretchers and canvas and did it myself. I'm glad I did that because I discovered a way to stretch the canvas so that it was really tight. I still have to come up with a standard for rear supports but I think this piece is pretty solid.

Morning Light

On my way to work one day last week, I was struck by the light of the rising sun and how it affected how the streets looked and what they felt like. There was something about that particular time of morning, especially the strong light that seemed to push the shadows to the side. It was that point in the morning when these residential streets were pretty empty, but not very far away, expressways were still clogged...


Morning Light: Queen Street


Morning Light: Catherine Street


Morning Light:Fitzwater Street


Morning Light:Monroe Street

the other stuff

I'm getting to the point where stretching large canvases is becoming an annoyance. I'm talking about anything 48" x 72" and larger. I like some of the preparatory processes of art; tearing paper for prints, preparing plates or stones for printing, putting stretcher bars together and stretching canvas, etc... I like maintaining some connection to the tradition of preparing materials for painting, to a degree; you won't find me attempting to grind my own colors as I barely have time to actully paint sometimes.

I really like stretching canvas. I like having that period of time to get acquainted with the surface I'll be painting on soon. I like the time to think about what I'm going to do on it. It gives me another chance to put my hand in the work-to feel like there's even more of myself in the work besides the layers of paint and marks, etc... on the canvas's surface that will make up the final image. That said, I've determined that I have a limited ability to keep a canvas's corners straight above a certain size. It's so tedious sometimes, trying to make sure that each corner is square during the stretching process. I wind up checking and re-checking corners over and over because I'm so fucking paranoid about the corners and sides not being square once I've spent so many hours preparing a bunch of canvases.

I've gotten used to spotting irregularities in the shape of my canvases over the years. There's really nothing more aggravating than having to re-stretch a canvas I'd just spent nearly an hour or sometimes more stretching one canvas, a large one, anyway.

I hate the pre-stretched canvases sold in Utrecht and Pearl, so I think I’m going to order a couple of large, pre-made stretcher frames from
French Canvas I’ve heard good thinga about their products, so I’ll probably give them a try.

New life

Things are moving in the studio these days. I've had to do some re-arranging and finally got to stretching some new canvases last week and working on a couple of new paintings, as well. Felt good to breathe some new life into the space...



New painting that's currently untitled.


New drawing: graphite, oil stick. Lots of addition and subtraction with this one-scraping, smudging, recovering...

immersion

detail of recent, unfinished painting

It's funny how things work out. Yesterday, I had something of a breakthrough from my latest creative blockage. I can't say that there was some kind of "ah, ha!" moment. It was more like the gradual build-up of a series of moments until I found myself suddenly thinking in a wide-open space where ideas were pouring in. The space was there the whole time; there was just something blocking the entrance. Slowly, ideas began creeping around the edges of the blockage, finding weaknesses in the armor of the space's guardian whose only interest was keeping that space clean and pristine. Now, there's all sorts of thngs messing up that space, the way they should.

......

The past couple of days have found me re-engaging myself with the mental side of art, which I hadn't been able to really do for a while this year. I've done a few paintings here and there, but for the most part, I've felt myself divorced from real, active engagement with my work. Just like my re-immersion in it, there was a gradual separation from my art life over the months since my last solo show, almost a year ago now. I think I hit something of a wall after that exhibition. Just like the end of any project that you've spent a considerable amount of time and energy working intensly on, the end of that period can bring a lot of questions about what's going to happen next. It's always like that with me. "I've done this, now what next?" As always, the answer is "continue working"

......

I feel reanimated now. Refreshed and ready to re-engage my creative self in ways I haven't in a while. There's a lot swirling around in my head. Ideas for paintig, photography, drawing, printmaking...everything, almost. The only thing to do is work...

from here to there and back

It's been a while since I've been back from my foray to the other side of the world (Australia) and I need to make up for lost time. Needless to say, the trip was great. I managed to lose two days in the beginning due to a variety of mishaps that are only usually only expeterienced one or two at a time. I got hit with a bunch of biggies:

-three hour delay at PHL due to mechanical problems
-missed connection in LA
-diverted flight due to fog
-lost luggage
-cancelled flights

It all worked out, even if by the end of the ordeal, I was way beyond tired and giddy because of stress and lack of sleep. The details can be found in my personal journal. Scroll down the page and start reading at "7.14.06"

Of course, being the shutterbug I am, there are plenty of photos

Australia was beautiful. I was around Sydney most of the time, but did get out to the Blue Mountains for three days of mountainous nature...and loads of fog.

While there, I got to see some art via the Sydney Biennial and going to the suburb of Paddington to visit a few galleries one day. The art there is as diverse as it is anywhere in the States or elsewhere. There's everything from contemporary painting, video, and installations, to gorgeous Aboriginal art and a lot in between. I only got to see the part of the Biennial that was at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Sydney, but there were exhibits around the city and region, also.

......

One of the questions I've been asked a lot since I returned has been variations of "So, were you inspired?" A normal question, but I couldn't really answer that question, as I had a ton of stuff to take in and digest. I'm still going through that process after almost a month of being back. I have no clue as to how things might shake out for me. The experience was short and very intense on the senses and emotions.

It was the first time I'd been away in over five years and going around the world is enough to handle alone. I took some materials with me to draw with, but never used any of it. I thought I would, but never had the time to really get into the mood for doing anything art-wise. I did write a little, so that helped. I was more interested in taking in as much of the sights, sounds, tastes and smells as I could in a short time. That, and get over jet-lag at the same time. By the time I was leaving on the 27th of July, I was *just* beginning to adjust to the time there. Returning to the US was even harder on me. It took almost two weeks for my body's bio-rhythms to return to normal. There's a 14 hour time difference and that's a lot to recover from.

In that time, I've only been in the studio a couple of times. Last week, I was in for a whole day and part of another, so I'm slowly getting back to things, though not at the pace I usually have. I'm having a crises of not knowing what I want to do at the moment, but I'm attmpting to work through that. This year has been very strange for me in terms of my work. I can't really explain it. Just feeling unsure of what I want to do next. My usual remedy is to just work until something comes out and that's still the best thing for me. I just need to re-establish a routine.

I just feel that this trip has changed a lot for me and I'm still struggling to figure out what it means. There are changes coming around beyond just my work. That has to do with my personal life and how things are turning out with *E*, whom is one of the reasons I went to Australia in the first place. We met through Livejournal this past spring and almost three months into our conversations, I told her that I was going to come there to meet her. We've gotten along great and our time together there was fantastic. She's planning on coming here later in the year and what happens from there is anyone's guess, but we've both said that we'd like to close the gap.

So, yeah, life got a little more complicated this year, but in a good way. It's just that I don't deal well with big changes in my circumstances, so I suspect that's partly behind my inability to focus on my work like I usually do lately. It's not that I'm out of ideas or anything, I'm just not sure what form the work is going to take. I'm still painting, but there's other things coming up for me, as well. I'd like to do more printing or just work with paper, in general; drawings, collages, whatever. I was thinking the other day that I do miss working with paper and the processes of printmaking. Perhaps I should look into doing some of that this fall and winter.

Moleskines

moleskines
Originally uploaded by tilaneseven.

I love, love, love Moleskines and I've finally satisfied my craving for them.

I went to Borders the other day and after a lot of going back and forth to the blank journal section (the guard probably thought I was up to something considering the amount of times I went back and forth changing my mind about which ones I wanted), I finally settled on two sketchbooks-one small and one large, and a pack of three black, plain pocket-sized journals.

I think I'll take both of the sketchbooks with me to Australia and maybe purchase a large plain journal for the trip, also.

My main sketchbooks over the years have been the plain, smaller hardcover ones that Utrecht sells. I figured it was time to switch things up a bit and try something new. One thing that I like about the pages in the Moleskine sketchbooks are the heavier pages. They seem like they can take a lot of abuse and I can use a variety of media with them.

My history with sketching while on vacation hasn't been that stellar. I did some five years ago during my trip to the southwest, but I came away with few actual sketches and a ton of photos and experiences. The latter were much more instrumental in the concieving and execution of a few paintings I did between 2001 and 2003.

Honestly, the sketches didn't do much for me, not nearly as much as just being in a new place and everything in through my senses. Attempting to record what I saw directly didn't do much for me and those sketches weren't very instrumental in the subsequent paintings.

It had to happen...

I knew it wasn't going to be long before I did something about the vlogging idea. I was supposed to go to the studio today, but declined because I seem to have a slight cold and wasn't up for dealing with a hot studio and not feeling well. However, I just had to do something, so I followed up on doing a video.

I had a dream during a nap I took this morning, of which I remember little of except the ending. At that point, I was with *E* and we kissed. It was a good, long, sensual kiss, the memory of which left me feeling good despite the mild cold. Now, mind you, we haven't even met yet, but we have established a good connection over the past few months and there's some good feelings floating across the miles. I wanted to make something that I could share that captured how I felt upon waking up.

Since I've been experimenting with iMovie lately, I decided to cobble something together with some of the photos I have of *E*. I found four that I liked, edited and uploaded the fragments into iMovie, where I added some layers of sounds and vocals. The result is really basic, as editing and so forth goes, but I like how it turned out for a first attempt.

You can see the results of my first video here: A Dream...

That's the first of what I hope to be more videos I'll make. I have no clue as to where this might lead, but I'm just diving in and seeing what I come up with, hence the name of my vlog: "A Path Unknown".

where is it?

This painting no longer exists. Well, it exsists, but under more layers of paint, as is my habit. I was working on it yesterday in a state of sleep deprivation and was feeling that I'd lost it. I was feeling lost with where it was and where it might be going. Of course I can never tell where any painting will end up, but looking at where it had been and where it'd brought it, I felt like I'd missed a moment where I could have left it alone and it would have been fine.

Viewing it yesterday after an hour of adding more and more layers of grid structures, I felt like I was staring at the biggest mess and tangle of ideas. It was one of those, "what the fuck am I doing with this?" moments. I had to leave the studio to run an errand, and it was a good time to get away from it.

I returned to the studio maybe 20 minutes later and decided to leave it for the next time I'm there, which will be today. It's a good thing I had to go to work. There's no telling what I would have done with it if I had the time to stay and work on it some more then.

It's a good thing that I'm used to times like these and know how to handle them. I will admit that I can become very emotionally and mentally engaged with a piece and when I feel that things are going south, it can get very annoying. When it happens, I'll usually just go and do something else, take a break, or sometimes, just plow through and see what happens. It just depends on what state of mind I'm in.

At work

Yesterday, I thought that it would be interesting to capture a sequence of photos documenting me working on a new painting. If nothing else, the pics will give a glimpse into how much a painting can change in a short amount of time. These photos were taken over a period of about a half-hour, maybe a little more. I used a 10-second delay to take the pics. The images are a little skewed because I sat the camera on an uneven surface, but I think they came out pretty well.

This is one of two new paintings I'm working on. It's 48" x 72" and is presently untitled. The rest of the set can be seen on my Flickr page

lines and bits...

I'm definitely back in the swing of things in the studio. Taking time off was good, but it's nice to be acting on some of the ideas that have been gestating for the past few months. Being out of my regular studio practice for almost 6 months was a little disconcerting to me. I'm used to always working on something, regardless if it wasn't going to leave the studio and be seen or not. I certainly needed to recharge but this was the first time that it was for such an extended amount of time.

What matters is I'm back to doing what I love. I never really left it as I was still thinking and reading about art, as well as doing something here and there. The difference is now I'm in there more and thus, doing more. Yesterday was a typical kind of day where I stretched two canvases, both 4 x 6 feet, not huge, but bigger than I've been working on lately. I also worked on several mixed media pieces on paper and started painting a couple of small canvases (16" x 20").

I went like this from around 3 in the afternoon until almost 10pm. I wasn't really ready to leave when I did but I needed to send out an email the latest exhibition I have work in beginning this Friday. This Friday is 'First Friday' in Philly and I have two paintings in
a group exhibition titled, "Order(ed)" at Gallery Siano located at 309 Arch Street.

Here's the info:

Order(ed)
May 5th-June 17th, 2006

Opening Reception:
Friday, May 5, 2006
5-9pm

Panel Discussion:
Saturday, May 6, 1:30pm at the gallery

Gallery Siano
309 Arch Street
Philadelphia, PA 19106

Gallery Hours:
Mon-Wed.: by appointment
Thursday-Saturday, 11am-6pm
215.629.2940
www.gallerysiano.com


Also, if you haven't already, check out the new (May) edition of Philadelphia Magazine. The cover story is 'Top Doctors'. I'm featured in an article on the Philly art scene called, 'The Philly School', along with Rebecca Rutstein, Randall Sellers, Rob Matthews, and more. It should be on the newstands now. On the magazine's website, there's a link to more details on the artists featured.
I left the studio with several projects scattered around and I'm looking forward to tackling them again today.

......

Being chosen to be in the Philadelphia Magazine article, "The Philly School" was a nice boost. It turned out better than expected as I'm featured in a full-page photo, along with fellow gallery-mate, Rebecca Rutstein.

The amount of exposure I've been able to get for my work since I've been with the Bridgette Mayer Gallery has been nothing short of amazing. Granted, I've worked my ass off for years before to get to this point and will continue to in order to get further, but the public successes I've had over the past four years have definitely been in large part to Bridgette's backing and tireless efforts.

......

I stumbled onto this link in one of the MySpace art groups and thought I'd spread it around a little. I like Ellis G's idea of recording the nighttime shadows of street objects and people seeing them during the day trying to figure out what the outlines are about, since there's no discernable way to connect the outline with daytime shadow patterns.

Ellis G takes street art and elevates it to a new level with ideas of transience and how we view objects in public space. He outlines any number of objects, permanent and not so, in sidewalk chalk with the help of street lamps. In the video, you see him outlining street posts, hydrants, mailboxes, there's even a motorcyle's shadow outlined. Some of the shadows, when seen in the daytime, confuse passers-by because they might be the result of two street lights hitting, say, a fire hydrant, casting two shadows from the same object.

The outlines are also confusing to some because we relate to shadows as being impermant and moving, but how often do we pay attention to them at night? How often do we pay attention to them during the day, even? The other part of the question of transience is the impermanence of some of the objects that Ellis G outlines. The motorcycle example is an obvious one, but what about the other things? Eventually, sign posts are replaced or simply taken down. Some of the shadow outlines are extended onto bulidings and stoops, which over time will change or be torn down.

So, there's the issue of short term vs. long term permanence. Then, there's the awareness brought out to the viewer about the spaces we inhabit and use on a regular basis. Walking down the street and encountering an extended outline of an object will most likely get people to stop and examine their surroundings a little more, and our relationship to that space, which I think the best public art does.

The best part of the video is watching as cops come by ready to bust him for graphitti but backing off when he explains that he's not using paint, but impermanent street chalk which will wash away eventually. Check it out when you get a moment...

back for real

I've been back in the studio regularly over the past couple of weeks. I've come out of it with one new painting finished and a couple of others nearly so. I really feel that I'm back in a good space, mentally, unlike how I was feeling when I wrote the last entry. I'm still fighting to maintain some focus and make sure I take care of the things I need to with my creative life.

Things are changing in my life in ways I never knew they would. I'm still a little too close to what's going on to have any real perspective, but it's a good thing...or crazy as hell. I guess I'll have to see what happens over the next few months.

......
Someone recently sent me an email asking me do describe what it feels like when I'm painting. She also asked what I did to revive when I wasn't feeling particularly creative. These are my answers which I've expanded on a little:


How I feel when I'm inspired and painting is hard to pin down to exact words, but I suppose being 'in a zone' is one way of putting it. There are times where I'm so into what I'm doing that I might forget to eat. When i'm painting, there's usually a feeling of excitment. There's a feeling that there's this unseen energy flowing through me that only becomes visible through what I do on the canvas, paper, or whatever else I happen to be working with. It manifests itself in the brushstrokes, scrapings, lines, pencil marks and more...

I've thought about what I feel when painting or doing some other creative activity. There are definitely different energies contributing to what I do. Some are sexual in nature, others are more aggressive and still more that are subtle. More often than not, there is a combination of these and more that I haven't been able to identify.

If I'm feeling creatively blocked, these days I give myself permission to lay off for a bit. I used to agonize over not being productive all the time, but I found that approach to be more taxing than letting it go for a little while.

I tend to work on more than one piece at a time, so if I'm having issues with one painting, I'll put it aside and move to something else, usually another painting or drawing. If nothing is working, then I'll call it a day and leave or not go into the studio in the first place. It also helps to focus on other things for a while, as I get inspiration from sources other than art, like design, music, books, films, etc...

hmmm

I'm not being very good at producing much right now...very distracted by all sorts of things and not keeping a regular studio schedule...

left or right

Did some painting today. I don't know where this is going. Maybe I'll get a clue tomorrow or the day after that...

shadows and light

My camera and I are almost inseperable these days. I've been into doing self-portraits lately, and a lot of them. It's been a real learning experience coming up with different ways to present myself in front of the camera. Challenging and fun at the same time...

Here are three taken today. There are more over at my Flickr account...

At it again...finally...

Yep, I actually painted today after almost 6 months of little to no studio activity. It's just taken me a while to get back in the swing of things. The thing that was odd about today was that I was having a crappy day mentally. I don't usually like to force myself to paint when I'm not really feeling up to it, but I needed to channel some of that angst somewhere, so painting it was.

As usual, I don't know where this stuff is headed, but the only thing to do is, well, to do it. That's all there is. I'll see where I am when I get there...
......

Here are two paintings that are in progress. I worked on these today. The lighter one is actually covering over another painting from my last series that wasn't very good. I don't know how I even let it out of the studio when I did. I remember having that nagging feeling that it wasn't quite up to my standards, but I let it go out into the world anyway. I got it back from Bridgette a couple of weeks ago and decided today to do away with it...

Going national...

Last month, CNN sent a camera crew down from New York to tag along with my gallery rep, Bridgette Mayer for a day. Bridgette is being featured on a segment of Anderson Cooper's show called On The Rise, which focuses on young entrepeneurs who are recognized as leaders in their respective industries.

Anyway, Bridgette brought the crew up to my studio, where we were filmed talking about some of my paintings. I've been told that I'm going to be featured in the piece...how much is up in the air, but 30 seconds or 3 minutes, a lot of people are going to see it regardless, and I hope you can, too. There's also going to be a featured story on CNN's website Thursday, March 9th: http://www.cnn.com/CNN/Programs/anderson.cooper.360/on.the.rise/archive/inde
x.html

If you have cable, Tivo, or whatever, check out Anderson Cooper 360 this coming Wednesday, March 8th, between 10pm and 12 midnight on CNN, you might catch me mumbling something on national tv, *lol* I don't know exactly when the segment will air, so record it if you can so you don't have to sit through the whole program, if you can't.
......

Here's the press release:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Press Contact: Laura Wagner
Bridgette Mayer Gallery
Tel: 215.413.8893 Fax: 215.413.2283
Email: bridgetteart@earthlink.net
Web: HYPERLINK "http://www.mayerartconsultants.com" www.mayerartconsultants.com

BRIDGETTE MAYER OF THE BRIDGETTE MAYER GALLERY, PHILADELPHIA, PA TO BE FEATURED ON CNN’S ANDERSON COOPER 360 ON THE RISE

Bridgette Mayer of the Bridgette Mayer Gallery is pleased to announce that she will be featured during CNN’s Anderson Cooper 360 “On the Rise” airing Wednesday, March 8th 10 – 12 p.m. Eastern Standard Time. A featured story will also be airing on CNN’s website on Thursday, March 9th at: http://www.cnn.com/CNN/Programs/anderson.cooper.360/on.the.rise/archive/index.html

CNN’s program “On the Rise” features successful business owners and entrepreneurs who are recognized trendsetters and rising leaders in their respective industries.

“It is exciting and an honor for me to be featured on CNN. As I get ready to celebrate my fifth year anniversary in business I am more committed than ever in continuing to provide quality programming & exhibitions for the city of Philadelphia, my clients who support me and the artists I represent,” said Mayer.

The gallery was founded in 2001 with the intent to support emerging and mid-career artists and to exhibit original contemporary paintings of the highest quality.

Education also plays a vital role in the gallery’s programming and last spring the gallery presented “Rock-Solid Finance: Building Your Financial Present & Future as a Creative Professional”. This program, held at the Institute of Contemporary Art in Philadelphia, offered financial education to young artists. Most recently, Mayer was a keynote speaker for several events at her alma mater, Bucknell University including “The Business of an Art Gallery and Contemporary Art “ at the Samek Gallery, and “Bright Ideas and Putting Them Into Action” at the Student Leadership Institute.

For additional gallery information including catalogues and images please visit: HYPERLINK "http://www.mayerartconsultants.com" www.mayerartconsultants.com or contact: 215.413.8893
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studio020906

studio020906
Originally uploaded by tilaneseven.

Had a 'prep' day in the studio today. Stretched two canvases and made up a list of things I need from Home Depot, which is where I'm headed tomorrow. While waiting for the canvases to dry between layers of sizing, I decided to take some photos around the studio.

The rest can be seen on my Flickr page here.

Another World

*This post was originally made on Thursday, January 28th on my Livejournal*:

Yesterday seemed like a day-long episode of the Twilight Zone. First there was the sighting of 'Sly' Stallone in the Italian Market, then yesterday evening, I went with Bridgette to deliver a painting of mine that recently sold to the client's home. Most of the time, people will pick up work from the gallery, but once in a while, she'll deliver the piece(s) herself. She'd called me Tuesday afternoon and asked me if I wanted to go along to meet the purchasers and I said yes. I'm always interested in who is buying my works and where they wind up.

Anyway, this particular client lives in Moorestown, NJ. Bridgette and I drove up, almost got lost, but made it in time to meet the guy and his wife at their place. During the last part of our drive, it's getting darker and the houses are getting bigger...and bigger...and...yeah, you get the idea. The mail boxes are almost half-a-block away from the houses in this particular development. The good thing is that the houses are not the ugly, cookie-cutter homes you normally see in suburban, and increasingly, urban, developements. It also wasn't a gated community. Nonetheless, the 'neighborhood' seemed, well, sterile and cold, and not just from the weather last night. I'm too used to seeing people walk around at night and standing there looking at these places, I couldn't imagine much life happening there, despite the obvious presence of people in their homes. Maybe it was the newness of everything. From the looks of it, these houses haven't been up for long, a few months at the most. The lawns were also a little too green. Hmmm...

At first, we were afraid that we had the wrong place, but luckily, Bridgette's instincts were on target. The wife opened the door, toting one of her young sons and let us in, painting in tow. As expected, the inside was as big as it looked. The husband was in the kitchen and after getting settled, the wife showed us around the house.

It was big, but modest in style and very relfective of the owners. Bridgette and I kept looking at each other every time she showed us room after room. We didn't even make it to the third floor. There wasn't time for that anyway since Bridgette had another meeting last night and the client had a dinner to get to. We chose the best spot for the work and hung it.

I've always wondered who lived in places like this and I got to find out last night. This couple, at least, was very nice and down-to-earth. They're genuinely into collecting contemporary work and very curious. They asked a lot of good questions and aren't into art just for the hell of it. I have gotten to meet other collectors of my work, but most of the time, that was at the gallery. I like connecting with the people who buy my work, but I felt a huge disconnect lifestyle-wise. I couldn't imagine living in a suburban development and having a place that requires having people come in and clean. There's no way they do their own house-keeping in a home that big. Everything was too new, also. I need a good mix of old and new where I live.

Overall, it was a good experience. I liked meeting the couple and they are enjoying the painting and paying for it, so everybody benefits. Below are a couple of shots of the painting after we hung it. Painting info: The Other, 2005, acrylic on canvas, 48" x 60"

church in fog

church in fog
Originally uploaded by tilaneseven.

I took this just after I got up this morning. The city was blanketed in a heavy fog and the sun was just beginning to peek through the shroud. I looked out my front window and saw that the church in my neighborhood was barely visible even though it's a mere half-block from my house.

I threw on some clothes, climbed out my rear window onto the roof and got a couple of shots before the fog lifted.

I like this one the best out of the few I took. I especially liked the sunlight reflecting off of the cross on the steeple.

white room 9

white room 9
Originally uploaded by tilaneseven.

new year, new toy

It's been a while, but I'm still around. The holidays are over and life is returning to something of a regular pace. I have yet to get back to painting on a regular basis. It's been difficult for me to concentrate on it due to life (and death) happening. I'm brimming with ideas and ready to move on, though.

One thing that made the past couple of months good was the purchase of a digital camera. I'm having a good time figuring out the settings and just taking photos. I've begun a series of sorts recently, using a room at work as my subject. The series is called, 'White Room' There are about 13 so far. I'll be posting them here once a day, I guess. They are numbered, but they'll be out of order. This is the first:




White Room 7