The Bipolar Scale of Artistic Angst

 This is the best idea I've ever had, I am unstoppable. There is no limit to what I can accomplish. Get out of my way, I have important things to do. I'm feeling fortunate for my situation. Things could be better. Things aren't that bad. I have no reason to complain. Life is really hard sometimes. Nothing I do is any good. Everyone else is better than me. There is no hope for my future.

Repeat.

Window Design for Think Tank Portland

This is a hand drawn emergent design using oil-based paint markers directly on glass windows. Commissioned by Think Tank co-working space in Portland, Maine. 

Sublime Monotony

My work is included in this upcoming show:

Sublime Monotony
May 2-June 2, 2013
Opening Friday May 3, 5-8pm

Ãarhus Gallery
50 Main Street
Belfast, ME 04915
207-338-0001
aarhusgallery.com


With the monotonous winter having continued on, and on, the piles of snow and frozen ground having withered down to mud and then igniting into spring, Åarhus Gallery thought it would be appropriate to have some fun with what is at times a monotonous if not paradoxical condition, this human condition with it’s contradictions of the mundane: everyday we eat, drink, sleep… our hearts beat continuously all day, everyday; the near definition of monotony being the lifeblood of our very existence. The tides ebb and flow tirelessly, apparently from an infinite horizon. Everyday the sun goes down and then, lo and behold, everyday the sun comes up. And if we listen, we may find our noble oxymoron, an altogether separate, deafening silence becomes our virtual reality. That which at first seems extinguished, wearisome, routine, repetitive, becomes singularly new, becomes beauty, becomes the flame. In a paradoxical world, our world, neither is either, without each other… and together they reveal a divine truth: The Sublime Monotony.

The show will feature the works of Marcie Jan Bronstein, Gabriella D’Italia, Clint Fulkerson, J. T. Gibson, Stew Henderson, Kevin Johnson, Mark Kelly, Marc Leavitt, Karen MacDonald, Richard Mann, Wesley Reddick, Willy Reddick and Kate Russo.

Ink Drop Drawing Timelapse Video

Check out this timelapse video of my ink wash drawing process:

 

Exploring Color

Here is a series of four untitled 15" x 11" acrylic paintings done on paper. These pieces were my reintroduction to the process of painting after considering the medium irrelevant to me for many years. I decided that I wanted to please the rods AND the cones in my eyeballs. Working atop a geometric sketch, I was mostly concerned with mixing colors from a limited palette and putting them next to each other in various combinations and working intuitively in a continuous feedback loop of painting and repainting until each image settled into a state of equilibrium.

These are a test to see if I really want to paint, and I do. From here on I will be painting larger and on canvas, which I refer to dorkily as the "fabric of space-time".

Here are some (Instagram filtered) images from the Gray Nebula Series of drawings.

Froth Ink Drawing, one of six

Froth 1, 10" x 8" ink drawing

One Donut, One Platelet

These two new pencil drawings are on 10" x 8" Stonehenge paper

Gray Nebula #2 Pencil Drawing

Gray Nebula #2, Graphite pencil on paper, 10" x 8", available here

Drawing for COGO House Collective

I just finished this commission for COGO House Collective. It is white gouache on black paper sized 30" x 22" and is entitled White Nebula #10. It will be printed in a limited edition and available online and at art fairs in London and Oslo.

'Like' the COGO House Facebook Page to stay apprised!

Gray Torus Drawing

Graphite pencil on 100% rag 10" x 8" paper

Gray Nebula #17, Pencil Drawing

10" x 8" 

Gray Nebula #16, Pencil Drawing

graphite, 10" x 8"

Two new ink drawings

 10" x 8" Ink drawings

Gray Nebula #13 graphite pencil drawing

I'm continually surprised by the results of these pattern explorations. Each time, I set out with a clear plan but it changes along the way. The whole process and result is a reeling mix of precision and willy-nilliness.

I was thinking about geological strata, waves in a pond, and fabric when I was drawing this.

(dī¦namik ′simətrē)

Dynamic Symmetry, October 7-Oct 30, 2011, featuring the work of Kimberly Convery, Patrick Corrigan, Karen Gelardi, Clint Fulkerson, Max Leon, Katie Schier-Potocki, Alex Rheault, and Shoshannah White. Featuring a musical performance by AWAAS (Zachary Howardand Eric Brackett). The show opens from 5-10 and there will be food from Tandoor of India, Brian Boru and beverages from D.L. Geary Brewing Co.

Hope to see you there for the opening Friday October 7, 5-10 @ 3 Fish Gallery, 377 Cumberland Avenue, Portland, Maine.

Scatterplot, 2011, 10" x 10", Graphite on Paper Mounted to Panel

Triangle Cube Ink Painting

I sharpened the end of my watercolor brush to a point so I can drop just a little ink into one corner of each wetted triangle area. The alignment of the parts is imperfect because I didn't sketch anything out at first, I just went at it with a brush- one end for applying water, the other for dropping ink. I started out thinking of a different form entirely but it's exciting for me when my initial idea changes as a piece grows.

Ink Painting

Water Lilies Ink Painting

Just a tentative title for this painting I did yesterday.

15" x11"

stippling experiments

These aren't really experiments, I just called them that because it's a new method for me. These images are details of one drawing that I'm making using one inch squares as different fields, and each field has different rules for placement of dots using an ink pen on paper.
The bottom left square's rules were: place dots in a random array, continually assess the visual qualities of the dots for the emergence of tonal density or imagery, avoid overt imagery but make a pleasing formal arrangement. Basically, just doodle with dots.

The upper right square's rules were different, they were: place dots evenly until uniformly dark value is achieved. Eventually individual marks will leave pathways and subtle areas of extra density, without much focus.

I've got a dozen or so squares to fill with dots in various ways, and I think in the end this drawing will be a rewarding exercise and an interesting piece.