Slain by the Spirit

i just finished this banner/mural for my parents' church. of course, in the middle of this 25+ hour project, my son, my firstborn, my young warrior was born, so i was crunched for time as well as materials. really enjoy the dyeing process, and the ink gives this an interesting look. its not quite an exact reproduction of the stain glass window (in Rome, i think) that backs the chair of st. peter, which actually is made of ovals and has no third dark circle... plus it's glass not fabric.

this is the Well of Souls. it is 48x48 gesso and charcoal on wood. it is the struggle of all through the dark, here and now, and in the past. This didn't make it into the show. this was more of a piece i could beat up on and theorize with, just a way to keep constantly working. it really was my first large drawing on wood, and i used it to experiment a lot with technique and material. I'm not even sure this is finished quite yet...

I've posted these next 2 already, but this is what they looked like in the show.

this is Vessels. it is 36x48 acrylic and charcoal on wood. it is about the vessels of our bodies, which we put into decorated vessels of stone, locked away in the houses of the dead.

this is Tower. it is 24x48. it is charcoal and gesso on birch. i have been fascinated by the story of the Tower of Babel for quite some time. it represents, to me, a philosophy of individual versus community. when we start to only care about ourselves only, we lose the stability of the group, and the tower falls.

This giant 48x72 is Internal Battle. It represents all the different conflicting opinions we hold, our formative experiences, and the external influences on our personality. It also reminds me of how I felt getting ready for the show, with everything piling up trying to all get done together. Even now, with a baby on the way, many worlds collide inside of me.

This was done on wood panel with charcoal and a few colored gessos.

Here is piece with scraps of acrylic collaged onto a door(30x 78 i think), then painted over with a re-wettable acrylic. It is tentatively titled Mish Mash Mesh Mosh. I really enjoy the sculptural aspect of the acrylic, but I'd really like to try this type of thing again with polymer clay.

Well, I'm back. Finally got around to updating the ole blog. Been pretty crazy since last post. Death, and then new life. Finished school. Next stop, success! Now begins the rest of my life. I begin it with the images from my last show at the Wheeler Artist Community in Fountain Square. I found these pictures at long last on my wife's cell phone. It was a small show, and not all the pieces are here, but it is some of my favorite work to date... it also represents the last time I'll probably get to have any large works for some time, as my Art Room has been taken over for the baby's room. I hope everyone enjoys! More to come, albeit small.



This is King of the Mountain. It is mixed media, on birch. Mostly charcoal, conte, and a variety of colored gesso. This sold to man who is a knight.

in the beginning...

these are the paintings that started my fascination with the figure. they are FAT&LEAN, and after painting them, i finally caught a glimpse of the type of work i'd like to continue to explore for the the rest of school, as well as for my career as an artist. they are a little intense, and some people say they are creepy, but i love them.

been a while

well, it's finally time to update the ole' blog. it's been too long, but senior paintingreally put the smackdown on me. i did get some really amazing pictures taken by a pro, so i'll post a few here. now i'm almost outta school, just a few classes left, next stop: success. hopefully i can be a little more productive on updates from now on.

into the gray...

here's 2 others ive been working on. i got into a discussion about woodgrain/color in my pieces and whether or not it is necessary. so i started these 8x10 grayscale drawings as prep for some larger works, but i liked them so much by themselves i started to try and finish them. they are mostly done, but i may tweak of the values
just a little (never finished!).

they are somewhat spiritual in nature, a mysterious ruler and a new take on angels in physical form. image quality isn't the best, but you get the idea. i might get to some larger ones soon.

FiGhT!!!

so here's Battle of Wills nearly complete. just need to get in there and detail some of the little bodies. i need to decide which should get more defined and which would do better as more...cloudy, in motion, abstract? that aside, i never know when to quit or when im finished. some people say i couldve left the background alone. some have said its done now. i'll never know, but i need more work on this.