the bacchanal and venice

Here are some pics of recent pieces. I'm posting them because I'm happy with them at the moment. Are they done? Work in progress? I can't tell sometiems so I show them to Nathan and let him decide. AHAHAH! So, here is the resolved Lightning in a Bottle bacchanal, 30" by 48", my homage to Botticelli and Monica. Also two versions of a scene in Venice. The longer one (14.5" by 41") was a "live" painting done at the bagavagabonds party; I brought my painting supplies but didn't bring a surface to paint on so I found a plank in the trash in an alley and painted on that. I got there early and sketched here and there, then met up with Mary, sketched some more, then composed this scene and painted it for the party. Kinda like how I worked at Lightning in a Bottle. Also there is a 24" by 48" painting of Venice that I've been working on which I really like a lot so I'm posting it 'work in progress'.

Also, as I sit here in my hot room in Los Angeles, here's another happy memory from Colorado.

los angeles

Here's a work in progress picture of a painting depicting the view of downtown Los Angeles from Los Angeles St. just past 2nd St. behind M.J. Higgins (map). So far it's just a fixed drawing in willow charcoal and two glazes, but I like it at this stage. 48 by 30. I have to remember to really slap on the color and then redraw the details; don't worry about perfect edges, just solid color shapes.

Also, here's a memory from Colorado, a photo of our guide Kevin and me with the biggest fish I caught on the trip.

North Fork Ranch

I went to Colorado for a week with my family to a ranch, what a great time! The first real vacation in I can't remember how long. I'm still sorting through all the photos but here's a few drawings and a couple paintings a did there. Really beautiful country, makes me want to leave Los Angeles and all it's greyness. ^_^ I got to go horseback riding, fishing, trap shooting, ate tons of food, spent time with family, painting, drawing. What a week!

kids

Ok, now it's starting to look like a playground!

playground

After the Lightning in a Bottle painting I thought: where could I find a place in the city that would be full of such people playing and having fun? I thought that city parks and playgrounds might be such places so I've started a new painting with that as the theme and I plan to check out other parks. It was so funny when I started this painting because I went to the Central Park in Pasadena and there was a group of grade school kids gathered that were planning to go to the Norton Simon Museum. They saw me with my easel and straw hat and red beard and they instantly thought I was Vincent, who they'd learned about and whose paintings they were about to see in person. These adorable kids stuck to me like glue, carrying all my supplies as I moved from place to place in the park to find a good view, listened to every word I said, asked "are you an artist?" and "what are you doing?".

Here's some of studies and the work in progress... I intend to paint it full of people but at this stage it's just the landscape... Long live Raoul Dufy!

bacchanal

I really liked the mural I did at Lightning in a Bottle so I've started a revised version of that painting at home. It's 30" by 48" which feels just the right size compared to the 6 by 10 foot original. And I like this composition much better, I was able to spend more time on it because it wasn't a "live" 3-day piece like the first one. So far its in that wonderful place between chaos and order... I like to call it a concerted mess. I've been showing it work in progress to the folks at the Hive and they really like it! That makes me happy because I've been trying to let the work be "finished" in a more raw state and so it's nice to see people respond really positively to the piece even though it may not be considered "finished" by traditional standards.

also, here's a pic of the pieces showing at the Hive presently. We've already sold two paintings at the opening and more sales are sure to come, especially at the ArtWalk on June 14th.