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.

ZZZZZZ

So very tired. Jordan Shively and I just hand printed 80 covers for the new Hive 2 Anthology. It will be available for sale at the Coffee Ethic during the July first Friday on the 3rd. Please come and support local author/artists. You will regret it when we are all rich and famous. HaHa.

School’s Out!!!

In the words of the illustrious Mr. Cooper. Thank the Lord above, school is out and the kiddies are loose. It is gonna be a busy one but it will be a lot of fun I think. I hope to get a lot of work made, landscaping done and playtime with the family. I will post work as it comes out of the kiln/pen.

Here it comes!

Well, the end of the school year is almost upon us. Time for all of the kiddies to leave the confines of the classroom to be set loose upon the unsuspecting world, roaming the streets in search of the cure for that endless dilemma. “I’m bored!”

I am really looking forward to this summer a lot. I will hopefully be making lots of clay and even a few drawings. I would love to do a couple of 18×24″ pieces. We may have to scrap our trip to Virginia this year due to funds but we are planning lots of little camping trips instead which are much cheaper. We may go to Hannibal MO. to camp and see the Mark Twain Museum as well as an outsider art gallery. Who knows, may even pick up a piece of cheap art.

I am also wanting to try and do more writing on this site about art and the world around me as opposed to simply posting new work. I have discovered a lot this year about myself and how I relate to the world and the arts. I would like to talk a bit about that. Well, on to 6th grade after lunch.

Hello again

Been a while and I have been really busy with my classes, art, family and yard work. I will be posting more regularly this summer so I hope you will check in and see what’s what.