Jelleh

I just ate lunch and I dont even like doughnuts... but right now I really want one.  Emily Eveleth and her huge, gooey, realistic paintings get me every time.

She has a good interview about her work over here.  And she does some darn nice drawings too.

Au Naturel

The Au Naturel show opened tonight at the CCC Art Gallery just a few blocks from my lovely little apartment.  This is an annual international juried competition of 2-D work showing "the nude in the 21st century" and the whole town has become a part of it.  Most galleries and restaurants around Astoria will also have figurative shows during March while Au Naturel is up. Thats just one more little reason to love this place. Here are some images from the show.

This year's winner by Annie Heisey

painting by my friend, Reed Clarke

Victoria Selbach

Nevin Berger

And here's a painting I made years ago that was in the very first Au Naturel show.  I painted this little lady one spring day in Paris. 

Headhunting with Caroline

My friend, Eden, recently invited me on a tempting trip to the Solomon Islands. Obviously I'm dying to go and thinking about it daily. Ive been lucky enough to go there 3 times already but this is the first time I'm going to have to come up with the thousands its going to take for a plane ticket across the world (If anyone has any fundraising suggestions, I'm all ears). It's also reminding me of an artist named Caroline Mytinger who spent 4 years in the Solomons and PNG painting portraits of local people in the 1920's. After my last trip down there, I began making paintings and drawings of Solomon Islands friends. I serendipitously discovered her work while I was making my own. I cant help but feel connected to Caroline, who traveled to the exact same, wild place across the world, at the exact same age (29), interested in the very same thing as me.

This last one is a sketch I did of my friend, Jack. He was 22 at the time and a fierce soccer player.

Charles Bartlett

The Surf Rider, 1921

Today my mom and I went to the Art Academy to see the Charles Bartlett exhibit. Beautiful prints, drawings and paintings from his travels through India, China, and Japan until he settled in Hawaii. These three are some of my favorites. Check out the sky and the water in all of them. I would post everything I saw today if i could.

Peshawar, 1919

The Golden Temple, Amristsar, 1925

the blog begins

Here is my first blog entry! I wanted to create this blog to share art and images and findings that inspire and influence me. I get so excited about great art, sightings and music, but can never seem to spread the word fast enough. These treasures are special to me and i hope you enjoy them! So, my first images are from Michael Borremans, a Belgian artist who does some cool things with scale. Its always nice for me to see some figure painters too.