Gruesome Castle

Gruesome Castle

Oil. 2010.

Structural sketch for 'Gruesome Castle'

Pen and Ink. 2010

Do they make a beret to fit a head this big?

"I am one of those insane thinkers, I express myself through art and philosophy, if they are not one and the same. I evoke many a muse like no one has seen since the times of old. Let me change the world. I am the farthest from the most walked road. I am Nietzsche's overhuman and I am ready to be plucked, a ripe talent worth many a gold statue. My greatest works shall not be displayed here, but does it matter, my life is my greatest work, or is it my state of consciousness..."
- Guy on Craigslist (Overhuman)

Happened upon this gem today. Is this guy looking for work or is he just bragging? I hope he's above sullying his (most) profound artistic talents in the commercial world, or I've got bigger competition in Austin than I can handle. Guess I'll be moving to Brooklyn.

Falls

Falls

Mixed Media. 2010.

Another new painting, this one was actually begun over two months ago as an experiment. Over a "pale olive" acrylic base, I silkscreened a rainbow gradiant of oil paint, which gave a nice effect but honestly was such a pain to clean that I'm not sure it would be worth it to try again. After giving that layer a few days to get a tacky conistancy, I used a small brush to dab over it in white, giving the misty atmospheric effect you see now. All in all succesful, I'd say, but unnecesarilly time-consuming for sure, and working with a smaller studio space is leading me to work with less toxic materials than I was at school. Getting constant migraines from solvent fumes is not condusive to a healthy work ethic, let alone a healthy artist.

Blowing Off the Dust

Victoria

Oil, 2008

Self Portrait

Oil, 2008

It's an old cliche for an artist to refer to their work as his or her "children", but I tend to regard my art more along the lines of a romantic relationship. First, there's the initial rush of infatuation followed promptly by a steep decline as each fault becomes magnified and disillusionment sets in. Though this bleak chain of events may be the norm, there are always those summer flings whose memory lives on spotlessly in our minds, untouched by the ravages of time. To bring this overtstretched metaphor to a close- these old paintings are two I can pull out of the closet and still vividly recall how I was feeling at the time and how I made them. Both were major learning experiences in paintings that unlike many other such "educational" works don't make me cringe to look at them now. What do you think?

Curses

Curses I
Acrylic, 2010

Curses II

Acrylic. 2010

School's out forever, as Alice Cooper famously stated. What now? How about some new paintings?

Working in acrylics has really allowed me to leap into color without fear of making things muddy. Layering swaths of colored plastic is a great way to pass the time while searching for creative work in Austin. Anyone want to hire a RISD grad?