who's for dinner?

we choose specific species of animals to eat, to be companions with, to be wild. however, depending on what society one originates from, these definitions can change. some people eat cats and dogs, others revere cows. some eat wild animals.

animals care for their young, feel pain, and have their place in the ecosystem. it is no longer necessary for humans in the developed world to eat animals. i have not eaten an animal for 14 years (as of this posting). i have been vegan for more than two years. i have never felt healthier -- in body and mind.

in the United States, there is an incredible amount of food waste. approximately 40 percent of red meat gets thrown into the garbage. animals raised for meat spend their short lives in horrific, tortuous conditions. yet, many of them will have endured misery only to be thrown away.

incredible amounts of resources go into bringing meat to the table. animals are fed more many more pounds of food than they become, they consume thousands of gallons more water than is required to grow an equivalent vegan meal. immense amounts of fuel are required to truck them around. they are fed scary amounts of antibiotics and other medicines and chemicals.

the next time you take a bite of an animal, think about the painful, miserable journey that being took to get to your plate. ask yourself: are your few minutes of culinary pleasure worth the cost?


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painting info:
Who's for Dinner?
Oil and Charcoal on Canvas, plus plastic bag
24" x 24"

entering some pieces in some shows

i am planning to enter the following pieces in a few art shows. if they get accepted, I will post details of where and when.

Artomatice 2017 comes to a close - tomorrow!

Artomatic 2017 has been an amazing experience. this 6-week indoor art festival enabled 600+ visual artists, plus dozens of musicians and performing artists, to give a soul to a building that previously had been filled with government workers.

above is a shot of 4 of my 6 pieces. to those who stopped by, thank you. i enjoyed the thrill of putting together a themed exhibition especially for Artomatic. my work was done in both my crystal city studio (blue studio underground) and at TechShop.

if you haven't visited yet, you have two more days!

Footprints - Artomatic 2015

This is a photo of my completed space at Artomatic 2015. It is not just about Rhinos, although I use them to emphasize something broader. I will go into more discussion about its meaning in a near-future post.

The two paintings on either side are "bookends" -- a mother and child. The mother in the lead, the child trotting along after. The piece that is second from the left is entitled "Footprints" and is the focal point of the installation -- there is only a bit of one rhino in it, as other parts of nature vie for attention. It is detailed and complicated and deserves its own discussion. The piece to the right of it is "The Abyss" and also contains a rhino, though a bit more abstractly. The rhino in this piece looks into the abyss and is acting as a canary in a coal mine. The piece to the right of The Abyss is my first piece of art to contain an Arduino. A sensor lets the Arduino know when to make the eye sparkle. I learned a lot by doing this and am looking forward to continue to combine technology and art as a way to allow paintings to be more interactive.

If you take a photo of any of my work, please post it on social media with the hashtag #SaveRhinos. 

I hope you can visit Artomatic. It contains the work of 500+ visual artists (2D and 3D), plus many performing artists. There are also workshops and other activities. Meet the Artists night is the next major event and will take place on November 14. Check the calendar for more activities. 

rhinos are coming

for the past several months i have been working on a large rhino piece. it will be finished this month. here are a some sneak peeks.

rhino series - in progress

i continue to work on the rhino paintings. currently i have 6 rhino paintings in work. here are four of them:

the one in the lower right corner has been entered in a local show that opens March 8th. the show is called "Bold and Bright" and i think this rhino will fit right in.  :)

more info about the show: http://www.fallschurcharts.org/home

something to crow about

this painting was done for another special person who has unique ties to crows. "something to crow about" is oil on canvas paper, 16" x 20".

Disneyburgh

this mash-up of Pittsburgh and Disney's Cinderalla castle was done for a special person -- someone who has ties to both Pittsburgh and Disney. this may be the beginning of a series combining cities and sites in unique ways. this piece is oil on canvas, 20" x 30".

some works in progress

just a few things in the hopper

stand your ground

an inspiring model makes things happen.

love the twist

a great model who has not visited the Tuesday Night Group for a year or so is Tara. she always seems to do an amazing pose and often it is because of a twist she makes that puts tension in her body. here are paintings from two different session she did for us in july:

both are acrylic on canvas paper, 16x20

july 4th

i ran down to the studio on july 4th to do this:

oil on canvas board, 16x20.

multi-painting

one thing i am loving about having studio space is the ability to "multi-paint" -- work on multiple paintings in one session. with oil painting, since the drying time becomes a factor, i find that now that i have the space, i can add bits to several paintings in succession. in a recent evening, i worked on all of these paintings (plus one more that i started after snapping this photo):

it was mind-bending to be able to work on birds, bridges, abstract pieces, and a portrait all in the same session.

art underground open studios - tonight!

we are having open studios tonight in conjunction with the gallery event 'a visual feast'. the event is from 5-8pm in the crystal city underground (2100 crystal drive, arlington, va). this is a good map showing the locations of the studios and the gallery, metro, parking, etc.

here are some recent photos of my work in that space:

stop by for some beer, wine, hors d'oeuvres, and discussion.

emerging from the swirl

i had this swirly background that i did a few months ago and it has just been sitting around. last night, our model Manuel, decided to strike a standing pose - unusual for long poses. he also raised his arms and held onto the overhead heating duct. then i remembered the swirly background and thought i could try to make it look as if he was emerging from it. here is the (unfinished) result.

emerging

For this one, I started with a busier background than usual. It took me a while to figure out how much of the figure to use, and where it should go. The model was lying down, but from the angle I thought it could look like she was running or walking. The dark green lines in the lower left quarter of the canvas looked to me like high grasses or splashes of mud. I like how this one came out. 

figures and faces

a couple more recent paintings:

study in back

finding a landscape in a model's back:

Artomatic 2012 - a Winner

Wow.  So, to be honest, I had some concerns going into Artomatic this year. It seemed that initially communication and organization were not up to my expectations. However, they pulled it off. What an amazing event. Friday night was Opening Night.  My face still hurts from smiling so much.

From seeing old friends to making new ones, I have not has this much fun in a long time.

I reached a bit this year and included a participatory aspect to my installation. Since my painting theme was about dance, I decided to ask the public to contribute by taking photographs of themselves dancing and sending them to me. So far, I have almost 50 participants from around the world who now have their photos on my wall.

Here is an overview of my space: 

Here is the area where public participation photos get posted:

This is a close up of the central dance-themed art. The entire piece is called "Shall We Dance?"

I look forward to continuing to visit Artomatic and encourage anyone near the DC area to partake. The event runs until June 23rd.

taking it too far

Last night I did this portrait. The first image shows that I really didn't know where it was going. The second one brings it to life. And the third one is the final product, but I actually like the second one best. Another case of carrying it too far.