Stirring It Up

It has been quite a busy last few weeks. I have officially moved into a collective art studio in Santa Cruz. I have a new cozy studio space inside the 17th Ave Studios, sharing a warehouse with about 30 other artists. I am setting up my studio and starting to get cozy and more importantly meeting more artists. Painting is what I do, however painting alone, day after day, month after month, is really quite lonely. So the next few weeks I will be organizing, making an art storage rack and settling into the space, which happens to be right next to train tracks which adds a special ambiance to the studio. If my work starts to resemble abstract trains, you know why. Chooo-choooo!

So, there is your sneak peak of that and we are moving on to the work that I have be creating.

I have mainly thought of myself as large scale painter. In 2008 I started utilizing a medium that would allow me to speak in a way I never dreamed of, I found a new language. In 2009 I create my largest painting which is 12x6ft and it would show at the National Steinbeck Center for the Steinbeck Festival. In 2010 I spent just about everyday learning the skill set of trompe l'oeil. I had not painted realistic work since high school. For some reason I had an urge to paint realistic that year and trompe l'oeil was a good skill set for me to learn. Nearing the end of my trompe l'oeil journey I started to become depressed in the studio. When I woke up I knew exactly what I was going to be painting and how I was painting it. The mystery and magic that I cherish so much in my studio work and practice was no where to be found. I respect trompe l'oeil painters all over the world. However, for me, there is nothing more magical and mysterious that of a large abstraction, you just don't know what's going to happen. Once you have been fooled by the trompe l'oeil trickery once, you will not be fooled again. You know it is a trick. It looses its magic. However if you see an abstract painting once, or  funny creatures like the robots, humans will usually find something engaging or an emotional connection. The traffic box I created for Santa Cruz allows people to giggle time and time again. Every time you go by that public art piece you can not help but to feel something. Feeling something, that is what I would like you to get out of my work (is that to vague?). Ideally I would like for you to feel, for lack of a bigger word, happy. This series I am working on below is created with thoughts of actions, people and emotions that make me feel like I am on cloud 9. I am capturing a passionate moment full of thankfulness, appreciation, admiration, imagination several feelings that just make my eyes tear with joy. That is what is going on in this developing series. I want to create something that is drastically different from any of my other work and create a space for you to feel a smile, to feel wonderful in. With all of the 'things' that are going on in the world today and in the USA, I want to be able to create a place of love. I want you all to feel my love.

This is a series in progress but I would like for you to see what is going on in the studio.

Most of these paintings have changed since the photographs. I am excited about where this work will led me.

 Stay warm, and happy fall!