After being thwarted by rain and cold for the last two weeks, the weather finally got nice today! And boy, was it ever a beautiful spring day! I've begun priming the library wall for my mural. And it looks like a few more days of painting weather ahead.
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Here is my entry for an upcoming member's challenge exhibit at GOArt in Batavia. The theme is "Summer of Love". This theme brought up all kinds of cool ideas in my mind; but since this 50th anniversary of the Summer of Love is also the anniversary of The Beatles' 'Sargeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band' album, I immediately knew the Fab Four had to be the focus of this one. I'm just amazed at all the images and ideas and feelings that the Sixties (and early Seventies) have conjured up in my brain! So I think that I will soon be doing a few more poster-paintings of my associations of that time period. I was eleven in 1967, and though it was a crazy and tumultuous time for our nation and the world, the spirit of the sixties seems extremely relevant for what is going on in our world right now! Many people engaged in some radical and destructive behaviors in that time. But the spiritual and ideological revolution of the Sixties, especially the questioning of the status quo, racism, sexism, greed and the growing materialism of our culture, are things that have become so much more extreme today. In this time of corporate control and institutionalized fear and division, I believe that the spirit of love, peace and inclusion of the Sixties has NEVER been more important than it is right NOW. Challenging the military-industrial complex that controls every aspect of our lives and looking at more sustainable lifestyles and technologies is vital to our children's very survival! We have so many choices facing humanity's future, and maybe the most important of those choices is to embrace love over hate; to come together as a Human Race and face our challenges rationally and coherently, not with fear and more hatred. OK, before I rant on any further, I will leave you with a few pictures of the progression of the above painting. I need to practice doing this for the library mural I'll be starting in just a few weeks. The Summer of Love Show opens Thursday, May 18th in Batavia. Check out the Link. Happy Spring! I just wanted to say 'Thanks' to everyone who came to the opening of the 'Art of the Rural' exhibition last Thursday (April 6th) at GOArt's Main Seymour Gallery in Batavia, NY. It's the brick building on the corner of Main and Bank Streets. It was a great turnout, with 68 artworks on display. (I have four paintings in the show). The show will be up until the first week of May. Hey folks, Spring is here! My friend and amazingly talented abstract artist Dan Hogan introduced me to a wonderful opportunity recently. He noticed a huge empty wall in the balcony area of Spot Coffee on East Avenue in Rochester, NY, and asked the owner if he could hang some paintings there. The owner/manager (Joe) looked at some of Dan's work and said "sure"! Dan encouraged me to do the same, and Joe loved the idea. So yesterday we hung five of my paintings along with the work Dan put up last week. I wanted to keep to a theme of Entertainers, Poets, Musicians (since Spot is right near the Eastman Theater/The Little Theater/Jazz Fest). It's amazing what a difference it makes up there having art on that huge, long wall! It's so much more homey and inviting! And The manager told us he has a couple more artists who are interested in putting work up there, too. I can't wait to see what else they have to add! I'm sorry the photos from my phone are not terribly clear, but you get the idea. Dan also put up a great (and somewhat famous) photo print of his giant cat 'Cricket' as the centerpiece of his paintings. It was tons of fun talking with Joe and the people who work at Spot Coffee, and we already received some nice comments from patrons while we were hanging the paintings. Before going to Spot Coffee we also stopped by the George Eastman House, since I haven't been there in quite a while. God, I love that place! And what a perfect early Spring day! Our paintings will be there for a while (indefinitely), so if you get to downtown Rochester, stop by Spot Coffee on East Avenue (in the beautiful old building that was once a Chevrolet showroom), have a little lunch and go upstairs to see our art and whatever else might be up there.
Here are a few photos from the opening at A Different Path Gallery in Brockport two weeks ago. (My painting 'Toad in the Hand' is above) There was a diverse variety of animal artwork there, going from downstairs all the way up to the second floor gallery, and it was a delightful time. The show will be up until April 1st. I was very pleasantly surprised when some friends from south of Gainsville showed up. Thanks so much for driving all that way on such a cold and snowy night! Also I added a couple of photos of new paintings from the past week or so below. In more news - Last week I showed a revised draft of the Library Mural design to the Bergen Library Board of Trustees, in preparation for buying supplies and finalizing the basic layout for the mural. I'm getting excited as Spring approaches (tomorrow?). Hopefully I can start work on it in 5 or 6 weeks!
Think Spring! I was creating a logo for my kid's school Jazz Concert this week, and it inspired me to paint 'Jazz Man'. Then my wife went to see a (very) limited screening of the film about James Baldwin called 'I Am Not Your Negro' at the Little Theater in Rochester. She thought it was fabulous, and I need to see it sometime soon. Thus the inspiration for my second painting this week.
Here's a photo of my two paintings from the 'All You Need is Love' show in Brockport. The reception was great fun! I love going to these things and meeting some very interesting people.
The weather is fabulously Spring-like today. I need to paint more this coming week! That is all for now. Some New Paintings, and An Opening Reception in Brockport...Greetings art lovers! I just wanted to share four new paintings I added to the website. They're at the bottom of the Gallery page.
I also have a painting in a new exhibit at GOart! in Batavia in the relatively new Bar Room Gallery. Here's the info from GOart! website: Wild The bar is now a new gallery room for GO ART! and is currently hosting the third members challenge exhibit. For the challenge show, GO ART! members were asked to submit something in the theme, WILD. With no media limitations and over 25 artists interpreting the word WILD, the possibilities are limitless. Through this exhibit, we hope to offer a unique opportunity for GO ART! members to showcase a small selection of their works in a professional setting, allowing for increased visibility and networking with fellow artists. In turn, we hope to provide you, the viewer, with a unique opportunity to celebrate the remarkable talent and creativity of our local artists, and perhaps to even purchase one of these exceptional pieces to enjoy in your home! Thanks to all the artists for participating, and for their membership support of this organization and our mission. Dates: January 24 - April 28, 2017 I will also have 2 paintings in a new show at A Different Path Gallery at 27 Market St. in Brockport, NY that starts next week (http://differentpathgallery.com/gallery-events.html). The theme is 'All You Need Is Love'. The opening reception is from 7:00 to 9:00pm on Friday, February 10th. If you can make it to Brockport, stop in! I've been a little obsessed with painting people lately. The human face is incredibly unique and I love to practice painting them! I just wanted to post a couple paintings I did for Christmas gifts, and a couple more from my series of 'American Faces' that I think will just be an ongoing thing. I think I may need to do one of Carrie Fisher, because I'm so heartbroken about her death.
Happy New Year everyone. |
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