Wednesday, February 11, 2015

News from the Studio 2/11/15

Hello everyone!

Let's just get right to it.  I've been busy, and I'd love to share with you all what I've been up to.

First, let me take you back to January 14th.  I was invited to speak and give a little demonstration at the January Summit Art meeting.  I have to say, I wasn't sure exactly what I wanted to do for my presentation until about a week or so before.  I knew I only had a very brief amount of time... about 30 minutes, which isn't much for a demo.  But I rolled with it anyway, and did a very quick underpainting demo of a Velázquez master copy.  It was the fastest thing I have ever whipped out, but it went pretty well.  Actually, I was absolutely not expecting as great a reception as I got.  So many people greeted me afterwards and told me how great it was, and how mesmerized they were to watch my process.  Pretty cool!  



A few days later, I get a message from Teresa, the director of Got Art Gallery in Lee's Summit, who said she had "several" people approach her about booking me for a workshop.  

So... I am happy to announce that come April 16 and 17, 2015, I will be teaching a 2-day workshop on The Classic Portrait in oil.  More details to come very soon!

I've also been invited to give another presentation for the Pleasant Hill Art League this Tuesday, February 17th.  I'll probably be doing the same thing, with the same amount of time.  Wish me luck.

So there are only a few days left to see the Celebrate Summit Art Show at Got Art Gallery.  It comes down on Monday, but I have a few other shows coming up in the spring that you certainly won't want to miss!

Blue Springs Fine Art Show, March 7-8.  This year, the portrait of Abbey will be making her debut.  I really hope she does well at this show!  

Head to Toe: Art of the Human Form, March 23 - April 20.  I am also happy to announce that I will be the featured artist at this show at Got Art Gallery. The show runs from March 23 - April 20, and the opening reception will be Fourth Friday, March 27th.  I am the featured artist, but this will actually be a group show featuring figurative and portrait work from Summit Art.  I'm interested in seeing what this show will look like!

First Friday at Jones Gallery, Crossroads Kansas City, May 1 - June 1.  I have also been booked for my first ever First Friday show at Jones Gallery in the Crossroads Arts District in Downtown Kansas City, opening May 1st.

*The Images Gallery Juried Show will also be coming up in April.  I anticipate that I'll be doing that show again, but the call for artists has not released yet.  Stay tuned for that announcement.

Now, I said I've been busy, so let me show you what I've been doing for the past month:

Always a Bridesmaid
oil on canvas
36x24 inches
2015
Available, contact to purchase

El Matador
oil on canvas
20x16 inches
2015
Available, contact to purchase

Love Is
oil on canvas
14x11 inches
2015
Available, contact to purchase
I can tell you right now, "Bridesmaid" was the most frustrating painting ever.  There was a whole lot of experimenting going on with that piece, and much of it failed.  But it seems that 2015 is the year of experimentation for my work.  I'm trying some different stuff, so I suppose a little frustration is bound to be part of the package.
I have a few more new ideas planned.  One of which involves a very big nature painting.  I've been working on some color studies for it, and if I can pull it off, it should be pretty cool.  Here's a little peek at one of my small studies to give you an idea:


Another idea I'm working on is unlike anything I've really done before.  It is pretty crazy, a little funny, and will hopefully be something really good.  I've already done some sketchbook studies for it, but I'm afraid I'm going to have to keep them to myself for now.  The only thing I will say is that it's the first art project I've ever done that has involved me doing some legal research for it.  I'm just going to leave it at that.

More to come soon!