CRAP!

Why do I do this. I am always getting myself set up against deadlines. I am trying to get work done for the May Show but I have got to focus on my classes. This is the last year before tenure so I have to do a good job.  I am going to have to work on weekends and relax. I just wish I didn’t have to split my time some days. I love teaching and making both a lot.  OK, sorry for the whining.

Circle of Inspiration

A student of mine was inspired by my monsters so he drew the one on the right. I was inspired by his work, I did my version on the left. This is why I teach kids.

New Ink

Some new work to tickle your fancy

Kid’s Need Great Art!

Been doing some real soul searching lately about me, my art and what I am doing with it. I am more and more convinced that I have been making B.S. statements about what I do because grad school brain raped me. So, for the benefit of some of (not all) my post modern deconstructed, post-colonial Marxist professors, let me finally spell out to you what I could not justify in front of you under the blazing heat of your all seeing light of knowledge.

I DRAW BECAUSE IT IS COOL! I DRAW BECAUSE IT IS FUN!

Got it? Ok, so now, I want to do what Art school took away from me. I want to have fun again. I am also looking at furthering my plans to focus the art I make for kids. I want to make art that makes kids buy markers! Ta-Da! Instant Art Statement! I will be posting a lot here in the near future if I can get the scanner and other computer working. Thanks to the 3 humans who actually read this crap. More to come.

I Love Drawing!

I am getting ready for another show at the Good Girl Gallery here in town. I am about to start (Yes, I said start. Yes, I know the show is in 2 and a half months) a series of 50 drawings based on the phrase “Catch and Release.” I so often use subconscious leadings to creat images but I wanted to try and work on a predetermined theme this time. All images will involve at least 2 characters in various conditions of  catching/being caught or escaping/releasing. If all goes well, I am going to print a zine featuring the 50 images and an essay about the show/work. I have got to get moving!

One more…

7 am. It rained fiercely last night. The water came down with a roar. I was glad to be able to go for a bike ride in some neighborhoods north of here. I really do love my bike. Speed and power thanks to the legs the good Lord gave me. You could see the storm coming in and it began to rain a little on the way home. I am getting ready to paint the last little bit on my painting, watch some old Dr. Who and Draw in my Journal. Then I need to do some cleaning for the weekend. I am looking forward to school this year. so…

No Cat No Hat and no nagging fish

Raining pretty good this morning. Katie went to pick Sarah up from grandma’s house. I am trying to decide what to do today. Yesterday I started a big dumb painting for my classroom. 4 foot square on plywood with a one by frame. I started with spray paints so I could use fluorescents. I am doing a big giant Monster face for the image. I got the idea for materials from a young artist I met on Flickr. He is still a student but I saw one he did and it looked fantastic. In the past, I made paintings small and too complicated. I have been drawing monster/creature heads for the past year or so and it just made sense. I will post pics when I am done. I am just playing around so if it is not very good, I don’t really care…sort of.

It’s a wonder

I have been struggling for years to develop a style, and then to figure out what medium to use. I think in the end, I draw. I am a compulsive drawer. Always have been. Sometimes I draw in clay, or prints, or comics, or zines but in the end, I draw. I get depressed some times thinking I can’t do one thing or that I need to do one thing. It usually hinges on the idea of being “successful” or something like that. I print zines because it is my favorite showcase for my drawings.

Right now I am a little stressed getting ready for the show in Dec. at the Good Girl Gallery. I think I am going to do some drawings on reclaimed plates. I can do a bunch and they make great $10 gifts. In the future though, I think I would like to do the work, before I get the gallery. Then it won’t seem like a deadline. It is a weird thing when you tell people you are an artist and they ask what you do to tell them I keep a journal. It seems like what you do before you make the art. I am an evangelist about journaling though. I have all my students keep one. It is a great practice whether you do anything with the contents or not. I really love the book.

Hive2 seems to be going well. It is a really good collection and I wish you could all read it. I am amazed at the tallent we have here in town. Who would have thunk it? Well, that’s all for now. Pax.

New work

My buddy Mike Canich turned me on to Stonehenge paper. It takes ink, watercolor and prismacolor like a champ. Beware the Rainbow Wizard! He will try to get you.

Hive 2

Hive 2 coming out next Friday. I hope you can stop by to get a copy. Jordan and I spent 5 hours the other night hand printing (with the help of my little press) 80 covers. Come by and say hi.