fuck the 80's

originally published September 9 2011

I revisited a painting from this series that was work in progress. I love to let a painting get good and dry and then jump on it and whip it into shape... I have found this series to be controversial subject matter and I'm never sure why. I think lots of people have lots of fond memories of the 80's, and so do I... but you gotta admit that a lot of it was pretty fucked. I think the 80s were half full and half empty at the same time; and the beginning of the institutionalization of bank criminality... oil on canvas, 48 by 36

Fuck the Eighties!

Originally published 05/2010

Fuck the Eighties! is painted over this painting and I think it's an improvement! lol It sums up my feelings of that decade, it was the best of times, it was the worst of times. And the 2000s are like the Eighties on HGH and Viagra. oil on canvas, 48 by 36

money at the Hive

Originally published 09/2009

Here's a photo of me last Friday at the Hive gallery posing with some of the recent prints and holding one of the blocks. I should have the wall totally covered by the next opening next this Saturday...

printing money

Originally published 09/2009

I've been interested in money lately and have been making various drawings of U.S. federal reserve notes. I think it would be fun to try and sell some as art, and also as a bit of a statement on the nature of money today. So in an effort to streamline the process, I cut a three color linoleum block print of a U.S. dollar. I finished the last block today and ran a few test prints to see how they look Im happy with it, not bad for my first try. Here's a scan of one of the cut blocks, and also the test print. The green stamp is a random stamp I'd made that I had lying around and when I sell them, I plan to add a few touches by hand as well as the serial numbers. ink on paper, 2.75 by 6.25 inches

(more) money

Originally published 09/2009

Today is between teaching days and I was home doing chores and thinking about money. What is it? Where is it's worth? These days it's just paper with the only thing giving it value being the "tinkerbell effect" So since central banks around the world are printing money like it's going out of style, I thought I'd get in on it! Here are two life drawings, actual size. They are each for sale for $50; a signed original drawing by notorious artist Alex Schaefer. Or maybe I'll try to exchange them at my local farmers market for goods or services.
update: I drew a couple more bills, thought I'd keep posting them...

CHASE FREEDOM

Originally published 08/2009

Here is my impression of the activities of the "primary dealer" banks, i.e. JPMorganChase, Bank of America, ad nauseum, since I can remember. This is the debauchery of undeserved privilege and awarding the unproductive. Jamie Dimon calls this success.

Regarding this painting you can see from the Artillery Magazine article that it's changed, i.e. pentimenti! I got rid of the lettering and raised the beer funnel. But the subtitle is still "Cabernet Beer Bongs"... or maybe Beaujolais! We're mixing up Goya and Sorolla and Vincent.

party like it's 1999

Originally published 09/2009

I liked the drawing so much I decided to start a painting! In many ways I think this painting represents the 'Dionysian' school of economics that has dominated U.S. central bank policy for the past 30 years! lol! i'm experimenting a lot with acrylic these days... I'm using matte gel medium as my 'white', a very limited palette of colors, and painting totally transparently on a very light pink ground. sort of like a painterly CMYK process... the gel medium is transparent when dry but 'milky' when wet... so I mix a 'tint' of each color with LOTS of gel medium, big piles, and then working on top a very light-value underpainting, I start slapping the paint on mainly going for broad color areas but here and there gradating some value... The "lighter" the paint is, the more gel medium hence the more transparent. as I get darker there's more pigment/less gel so it's darker. It's like painting watercolor with petroleum jelly. acrylic on canvas, 28 by 25