NC Museum of Art

In September I was contracted by NCMA to help with the take-down and packing/shipping of the  30 Americans exhibition. It was a five day job that I thoroughly enjoyed, even though those crates can get very heavy. It was my first time working at that museum and I made some new friends with the staff. Now I have worked with every major museum in the Triangle area. The 30 Americans exhibition is from the Rubell Family Collection in Miami, FL. NCMA was the first museum to exhibit the work. The show is now on display at the Corcoran Museum in D.C.

The next exhibition at NCMA is Rembrandt in America. Unfortunately I won't be helping to install it. I'd love to get my hands on a Rembrandt!

Studio - July, 2011

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This is the largest canvas I've ever attempted, 48"x72". It's a totally unique experience staring at a blank canvas this large.  This is as far as I could take it for now. It has since been rolled up and placed in the corner until further notice. I've returned to painting for my upcoming shows next year. To be continued....

2012 solo exhibitions announced!

Hooray for me! I've just secured my third solo show for 2012, all within a six month period. I want to produce three separate bodies of work so I'm not just shuffling paintings from one venue to the next. This is quite a challenge and I'm already starting to sweat. The dates seem far away on paper but the work needs to be completed at least two months beforehand. The reality is that I can’t paint every day and more importantly, and unfortunately, every painting I make isn’t always that good. Some just suck. The other brick dangling over my head is the constant fear of running out of ideas or just becoming repetitive. That’s the nature of the creative beast. She’s a harsh mistress.

February 2012: ArtSpace, Raleigh
April 2012: Durham Art Guild, Durham, NC
July 2012: Horace Williams House, Chapel Hill, NC

animation of a painting

This is a link to the animation I made from one of my paintings. My friend Kevin Moore composed the perfect soundtrack and I borrowed the sound effects.  I'm happy with the result but I'm not ready to devote that much time on another one just yet.

the re-animation of a painting gone mad.

FRANK Gallery - Black & White paintings

This painting was selected for a juried exhibition at FRANK Gallery. Artists could submit any media as long as it was black and white, no color at all. I had never done a black and white painting before. I consider color to be my strength so I thought this would be a good challenge for me. I painted three so I could have a choice of which one to enter. Luckily this painting was accepted. It was the second of the b&w series.

"Loblolly"
acrylic on linen, 36x36 in.

I'm also very happy with this one. It was the first b&w painting I've ever done. I had a difficult time choosing which one to submit.

"Clutching Shadows"
acrylic on linen, 36x36 in.

b&w group of new paintings

b&w group of new paintings

NC Museum of Art - Raleigh, NC

"I Ran Out of Titles #21"
acrylic and ink on paper, 6x6 in.

The NCMA just had their first fund raising auction to help support their community outreach programs. North Carolina artists were invited to submit works for consideration to be included in the silent auction. This is the first time I've ever donated an original piece of art to any organization (there's a good reason but I won't go into that now) but this seemed like a great opportunity and it was.

The craziest part about it was that you had to be selected to give a painting away. Luckily this piece along with many other works by NC artists were selected. There were over 350 submissions and only 125 selections (or something close to that number. The preview exhibition was displayed in the museum for two or three weeks leading up to the auction.

ArtSpace - Raleigh

My paintings exhibited at ArtSpace received the People's Choice Award last week during Raleigh's 1st Friday Art Walk. I will also have a solo exhibition at ArtSpace in February 2012! So far 2011 has become one of my best years and it's only July. I'm still waiting to hear whether or not I'll get a solo show for my stuffed animal series Fur Gone Wild. It's probably a long shot but someone out there has to be crazy enough to exhibit them. Anyone?

Cameron Art Museum - Wilmington, NC

"The Ship Hit the Fan"
acrylic and ink on wood, 21x18 in.

This is one of my favorite paintings. It is in an exhibition called "State of the Art/Art of the State" and will be on display at the Cameron Art Museum through October 22nd, 2011. It is the second painting in a museum exhibition this year. Sweet!

Happy Easter!

Easter the Movie - Starring the Easter Bunny

Oops! I had these ready way before Easter came around this year and then I forgot about them. So I changed the release date to 2012. I can't wait another year to post them or else I might forget again. So here they are.

Has a movie ever been made based on a fake movie poster? I know there have been movies made based solely on their titles because that's the best part of those movies. So why not a poster? I'm willing to sell the movie rights for this one at a handsome price. Call me!

Easter the Movie - Starring the Easter Bunny

New Painting: "I Lost My Marbles"

"I Lost My Marbles"
acrylic on canvas, 36x36 in.

This is the third canvas in the new series. (I'm pretty sure I hate the second one so I'm not going to post it. I might set it on fire and film it.) This painting was inspired by another piece I did  back in 2002, my first year of painting, called Thinking of You (below). That was also the first painting I ever sold ($125) and it was sold online from my email list. (Thanks Eric!)

I didn't set out to copy Thinking of You when I started this new piece other than knowing it would be blue on blue and I would use similar brush marks. When I finished Marbles I thought the two might look much more similar than they actually do. Some ideas do improve with age. Don't get me wrong, I  still love Thinking of you, I just like to think that my work has improved over the past nine years.

I Lost My Marbles turned out to be the catalyst for the new direction I would take for the next several pieces in the series.

"Thinking of You"
acrylic on canvas, 20x16 in.


2009 exhibition at the Visual Art Exchange

VAE - March,2009 , Me and my dear friend Kelly Cross.

VAE - March,2009 , Me and my dear friend Kelly Cross.

The Visual Art Exchange (VAE) is a fantastic organization in downtown Raleigh. They do great work for the art community as well as their public outreach programs. You can check them out and see a lot of great artists on their site. http://visualartexchange.org/

Those crazy chicks that run the place are pretty cool as well. They do monthly exhibitions in the main gallery and four member shows in their smaller Exchange Gallery. I was one of the four for the month of April in 2009. And I have the privilege of  showing there again this October, but in the VAE's new  and larger location. They will have 4x the space than in the old one. Congratulations!

Lazy Daze Arts and Crafts Festival

Lazy Daze Arts & Crafts Festival - Cary, NC

In 2004 I made a proposal to do the poster and T-shirt design for the annual Lazy Daze festival in Cary, NC. They accepted my concept and left me alone to do my work. I spent six weeks on the project altogether, two weeks on the design and four weeks on the actual painting. It was the first time I did a commissioned piece and there was a deadline to deal with along with the stress of it all. The painting came down to the wire and I was a wreck. But I'm happy with the end result and they were too. 

Lazy Daze is during the last weekend of August, in the South, so it gets quite hot. Projectile sweating comes to mind. I don't do outdoor shows or festivals for several reasons: the weather is an unknown factor; the public attending them aren't typically looking to purchase fine art; crafts are king along with deep-fried sorrow sticks and it's just not worth the hassle, financially or emotionally.

But the good folks in Cary requested me to exhibit my work and I was more than happy to oblige since they gave me the opportunity to participate in the first place. I was given a prime location so they could have me sign posters and T-shirts. You know you're well on your way to delusions of grandeur when you're asked to sign stuff you made. All aboard the crazy train. Next stop, Reality Station.

Studio - June 2009

My studio in June, 2009 - Golden Belt Studios

My studio in June, 2009 - Golden Belt Studios

Featuring my paintings on wood. The studio had be sanitized for the 3rd Friday Art Walk. I still hadn't killed my hard to kill plant yet.

My studio at Golden Belt - August 2008

My studio at Golden Belt in downtown Durham, NC

My studio at Golden Belt in downtown Durham, NC

My studio prepared for the first ever 3rd Friday Art Walk event, August 2008. It's not always this tidy. I moved into my studio on day 1 when the doors were finally opened, July 18, 2008.

Golden Belt Studios, Durham, NC

Golden Belt Studios, Durham, NC

The Vermont Studio Center

Vermont Studio Center, Feb. 2007

Vermont Studio Center, Feb. 2007

My studio at the Vermont Studio Center and some of the work I made while I was there."n 2007 I was fortunate enough to receive a grant to attend the Vermont Studio Center in Johnson, VT. I was able to work in a private studio (photo above) for the entire month of February to prepare for my exhibition in Beijing that following April. Who knew it was really cold in Vermont that time of year? We experienced the 3rd largest blizzard in decades on Valentine's Day, 3 feet in 8 hours! I even took off a layer of blankets when the temperature reached above 20 degrees during the heat of the day.

The extreme weather kept me focused in my studio. That was such a great experience! It taught me the value of having a dedicated working space outside of the house and convinced me to take a studio in Durham at Golden Belt Studios. www.goldenbeltarts.com It was one of the best career decisions I've made. I've made many dear friends and there is a wealth of knowledge, talent and resources that we all exchange.

The Birth of Fur Gone Wild

Boozy the Texting Bear

Boozy the Texting Bear

[caption id="attachment_350" align="aligncenter" width="450" caption="Boozy the Texting Bear, mixed media, 35x30x16 in., 2011"][/caption] I was inspired to continue the stuffed animal series for a juried exhibition called "Unfettered" at the Visual Art Exchange (VAE) in Raleigh. I'd been sitting on the bear on a tricycle running into a wall idea for about a year. This seemed like the perfect outlet.

The surfing mercenary rabbit (Bugs Gunny) was created for the group installation at the VAE in 2006. I had so much fun with the rabbit I thought I should give it another shot. Unfortunately and to my amazed bemusement, Boozy the Texting Bear wasn't accepted for the show. If that piece wasn't unfettered I don't know what is. I'm not bitter though.

I must thank the VAE for inspiring what turned out to be six weeks of some of the best times I've had creating art. There are 10 stuffed animal pieces completed to date. I have two more pieces ready to complete but I've shifted my focus back to painting, unless someone is willing to give me an exhibition for them. I'm sitting by the phone. I have all day.