Back on the ball

With the economy being what it is, most of the freetime that I previously used for creating artwork, is now being consumed with work activities and/or drinking. While productive activities in their own way, they are not helping me progress my painting.

I did take a bit of a hiatus after the crazy wave of shows from late 2007 to summer of 2008 where I completed almost 40 pieces in the span of 9 months. I have however resumed sketching, writing and collecting ephemera and thoughts and am ready to get back at it. I am currently submitting work into some upcoming gallery shows and I am looking forward to having the deadlines to keep me focused.

Thanks to all that provided me with so much support through 2008 and I look forward to showing you what inspiration 2009 will bring to my work.

Inspiration

I talk about travel an awful lot. Whether for work or for pleasure, it still shapes and inspires me. Maybe it's because just weeks old I was road tripping from Florida to NY? Maybe it's because my first passport was issued when I was 11 months old. I have inherited my dad's wanderlust (and am eternally grateful for that), so in reality it's probably just genetics.

What I have continually marveled at over my years of flying all over the place is the amazing contrast of colors, textures, patterns and surfaces. Whether its dark, rainy runways with light getting refracted every which way, the blocks of color created by the water treatment facilities in San Francisco bay, or the way that in Arizona the mountains end and give way to these massive round fields (I still dont know what they are). I've got a mental diary of years worth of these images and I've been waiting for them to manifest themselves in my work. That's exactly what's happening now. I just wrapped up 1 more painting last night and am completing the first series of 3.