2011 CVG show

January 29th, 2011

Two of my sculptures, Towers and Boundaries, have been juried into the CVG show in Bremerton.

This is the first time I’ve shown the little constructions outside of Gage Academy.  Juror Dennis Peacock is a sculptor and professor emeritus from the University of Tennessee-Knoxville, now living in Washington.

The public is invited to vote on a People’s Choice award February 1 through 5.

Feb 1 – 26
Collective Visions Gallery
331 Pacific Avenue
Downtown Bremerton, near the ferry terminal.
Open 10-5 Tu-Sat and 1-5 Sun.
http://www.collectivevisions.com
“Towers,” 25 in x 9 in x 3 in, basswood.

Caspar David Friedrich

December 12th, 2010

In a talk at Gage Academy in 2007, noted Seattle artist Margie Livingston mentioned that Caspar David Friedrich was a major influence on her work.  Until then I confess I had never heard of him.  Since then, I have heard claims of his influence on artists as disparate as Münch, Magritte, Richter, and Rothko, as well as playwright Samuel Beckett.  When I visited Berlin this past fall I had to seek out his work and see it for myself.

Although undistinguished by anything else but a very small Impressionist collection, Berlin’s Alte Nationalgalerie has a magnificent room full of Friedrich’s ouvre, including Monk by the Sea and The Abbey in the Oakwood.

It’s clear why he has been so influential on so many later artists.  These paintings from the early 19th century feel surprisingly modern.  His sense of composition was exquisite, but often very spare, without the degree of detail and extraneous description that tends to look cluttered to modern eyes. Some pieces remind me of Japanese woodblock prints in their pared-down simplicity and sense of large expanses surrounding a few iconic figures such as humans, trees or ruined buildings.  And although much of his work lends itself to allegorical readings, I also get the feeling that his paintings were based on keen observation rather than a set of conventional tropes.  The colors are amazing: fresh and believable, with a great variety of palettes for different seasons, locales and times of day or night.  The atmosphere is palpable, whether valley mists or crystalline mountain air.  As a Northwest artist, perhaps I feel a particular affinity for his depictions of mountain landscapes in northern light and weather.

I’m now reading Werner Hofmann’s terrific Caspar David Friedrich (2000, Thames and Hudson).  The copious illustrations are excellent, with good color accuracy and frequent detail illustrations. Overall the book is well organized and well written, and I recommend it as a wonderful reference on an artist who is drastically under-recognized in America.

Instructions for Initial Conditions

December 6th, 2010

In November, a pair of exhibition spaces in Lincoln Nebraska, DRIFT STATION & Parallax Space, hosted a show called Instructions for Initial Conditions.  The international open call invited fluxus-like scores, which were printed in black and white on letter-size paper and displayed en masse.

“Initial condition” is a term used in Chaos Theory referring to a simple starting point that, when the system is set into motion, is radically transformed into an unpredictable result. The works in this exhibition describe an initial condition by which an artwork can be made or enacted, taking on the form of instructions that are exhibited as artworks in and of themselves. They run across traditions and disciplines: some act as a catalyst for acts meant to be carried out immediately, while others are purely poetic calling for no action, or are conceptual or impossible to be realized and can only be completed mentally.

An exhibition catalog is now available for download (warning: large pdf file).   I think it is well worth the large download: there are some wonderful, poetic works in the collection.

Those of you who know me will not be surprised that my entry was somewhere between tongue-in-cheek and contrarian.

Another day at the brick factory

November 24th, 2010

In progress.

Studio photos

November 23rd, 2010

I moved into a new studio in SoDo in September.  Hundred-year-old factory building, high ceilings, great light.  Oh, and it’s over a bakery.  I’m sharing space with three other graduates of the Gage Drawing and Painting atelier.

Here’s how it looked before we moved in.  Those beams, by the way, are solid pieces of wood 26 inches thick.

Here it is all moved in.  Shared work table in front, individual spaces toward the windows.  It looks impossibly tidy, doesn’t it?  Needs more paint flinging.

Partial view of my space:

Gage Alumni Exhibition opens Friday

November 17th, 2010

My painting Not An Exit is part of the Gage Academy of Art Alumni Exhibition, opening this Friday November 19th.

Not An Exit

There are actually three shows opening at the same time:  The alumni exhibition; Anna McKee and Cynthia Camlin’s show of icescapes Below Freezing in the Steele Gallery; and drawings and sketches by Barbara Fugate’s students.  It promises to be an interesting evening!

Opening reception Friday, Nov. 19
6pm to 9pm
Lecture with Anna McKee at 7pm

Gage Academy of Art
1501 10th Ave. East, #101
Seattle, WA 98102

Press

November 17th, 2010

What with one thing and another – travel, moving into the new studio, more travel, illness, deadlines – I have neglected this blog since hanging my show at the the OK Hotel in August.

I’d like to start catching up by saying thank you to everyone who supported my recent shows.  For coming to see the work, joining us at the receptions, buying paintings (!), giving great feedback, or passing on the word:   Thank you!

New local art spotters Culture Herd picked the OK Hotel show as a fave.  They have been covering Pioneer Square Artwalk irregularly (who am I to criticize?) and I hope they’ll post more.

And my favorite raging liberal blog called me “scary talented.”  That’s the nicest thing anyone has said about me in a while – if I ever write a memoir, at least I have the title (or the back-cover blurb, anyway.)  Thanks, Michael!

Open Studio

October 14th, 2010

My studio mates and I are holding an open studio at our new digs in SODO this Saturday.  Please join us to see new art and visit our new workspace on the 3rd floor.

Studio Front

Saturday, October 16, 3pm to 7pm

Studio 3H
1941 1st Avenue S
Seattle, WA
(look for the red door)


If you were unable to see my recent show at the OK Hotel Gallery because of the venue hours, I hope you can swing by on Saturday.

Parking is free; additional parking is available in back of the building.  Buzz up from the front door.

“Not An Exit”: New paintings

July 30th, 2010
Impasse 450x337

Impasse. Oil on canvas, 36" x 48", 2010.

I am pleased to announce an exhibit of my new paintings, along with the work of Doug Parry and Tracy Boyd.  Please join us to celebrate the opening at

THE OK HOTEL GALLERY

212 ALASKAN WAY S. SEATTLE, WA 98104

(Between S Washington & S Main – entrance under the Viaduct)

Reception First Thursday, August 5th, 6-9 pm.
Live music by Andie Francouer and Adam Hunter

Gallery hours are 9-5 weekdays and by appointment on weekends.

MORE INFORMATION.

Hard work and study

July 26th, 2010

I’ve been working like crazy this spring and summer to finish some new paintings for my show in August.  Today I had the incomparable pleasure of finishing up my last major piece before the show, and being satisfied with it.

Standpipe (Detail)

Standpipe (detail)

I wouldn’t even have been sure I could tackle it effectively six months ago.  Studying with Charles Emerson at Gage Academy last term helped immensely.  He is one of those treasures who not only has deep knowledge and understanding, but is able to explain clearly and with apparently equal enthusiasm to beginning and advanced students alike.