Hi all!

So the other day I was in Wal-Mart (a fact I’m not proud of. I usually champion the little guy but I currently have no money) and I was witness to a scene that I found quite amusing. In fact, it made me laugh out loud in the faces of the people involved.

You know how all stores have central aisles and branching off from those at ninety degree angles are secondary aisles? And you know how at the end of the secondary aisles they’ll have special products or displays set up in the central aisles designed to catch the eye of unwitting shoppers? Well, my story takes place around one of those displays. When I worked for Blockbuster Video they were called ‘end caps’. If you ever have or currently are working retail then you know what I’m talking about.

Let me set the scene. I had a selection of inexpensive “mom and pop store destroying” items in my hands and was walking towards the one thru fifteen item checkouts. While walking down one of the central aisles there was a woman a few paces in front of me pushing a shopping cart. In front of her standing in the central aisle was another lady looking at an ‘end cap’ display of items from the pharmacy department. I believe it was a selection of pain killers such as Tylenol and Aspirin.

Well, as the woman with the shopping cart approached the lady who was looking at the analgesics the lady who was contemplating killing her pain stepped two paces back, away from the display to allow the woman with the shopping cart to pass. I thought in my head, ”How kind for her to do that.” Well…

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Hi All!

This is an article all about standing up for yourself because no one else will do it for you.You should find this amusing, I sure did!

Recently I had the opportunity to do a portrait for a nice young family who wanted to commemorate the first birthday of their only son, Aris. Seems Aris was a bit of a miracle baby and his parents wanted to remember the end of his first year in a very special fashion.

I answered their ad for a portrait painter on the buy and sell website KiJiJi. It wasn’t a lot of money, at least not what I would have liked, but they couldn’t afford more and I was game regardless.

I have to tell you, I really enjoyed doing the piece and seeing as how the subject matter is a little less fantastical than I’m used to I think I did a pretty good job as far as portraits go. I haven’t done one since I was in University, well over a decade now.

I thought, since I had such a good time doing it, I would offer up my services as a portrait painter on KiJiJi, see if I could drum up a few more commissions, make a few more dollars.

The very first reply I received about my ad actually came twice and it was from some tool who didn’t think my painting was very good and that I would benefit from taking classes with him. Here’s what he wrote:

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Hi all!

Welcome to the pilot article for a new section on my blog. I’ve got a lot of thoughts rattling around in my massive head (that’s not hyperbole. You ask anyone, it’s massive — physically that is) thoughts which have nothing to do with art or art related topics so… I’ve created this new section on my blog for rants and other articles which are non-art related.

Now, there may be a few topics in here that I discuss which might be described as inflammatory or that might be designated as a little controversial and I may, from time to time, use some strong language that one might consider to be ‘adult’. Be forewarned. If you are easily frightened, have a heart condition, are not 18 years of age or have the I.Q. of a grapefruit (not to put down grapefruits. I have nothing but the utmost respect for them) then perhaps this section of my blog is not for you. If you’re an intrepid explorer, have a curiousity like mine which is now piqued or are just up late, drunk on the computer and have nothing better to do, then please read on.

I consider myself to be more than just an artist. I’m also a sociologist. Cath is too. I think we’d consider ourselves to be avid people watchers. We’re fascinated with the society outside our windows and we’re always analyzing it, breaking it down trying to understand how the insanity that is the modern world hasn’t led the way to full scale anarchy. Give it time.

Although I’ve never formally studied sociology, I find my curiosity drawn to humans and human systems and today I saw something that I thought was noteworthy.

Cath and I went out to see the new Roland Emmerich film 2012 tonight. It was actually quite good. I’ve read a few reviews of the movie and they weren’t glowing but after having seen the movie both Cath and I thought it was very well put together. If you get the chance to see it on the silver screen, do so. It’s the type of movie that will lose a lot of it’s impact when it hits your television.

While we were waiting for the movie to start we watched as the theatre filled up quickly. It was a smaller theatre and therefore there weren’t a lot of seats. We were sitting in the upper section of seats. The lower section of seats (where you have to crane your neck upwards to enjoy the film, if you can from that angle) was still empty.

As it is with people who are strangers, when they enter a common seating area they generally won’t sit directly beside each other. They’ll at least leave one seat between themselves and the next patron. This happens everywhere. On city buses and the subway, at movie theatres, even in public bathrooms. You know what I mean. Why stand hip to hip with another man at the urinals getting a birds-eye view of his junk when you can stand comfortably at another urinal, abashed perhaps but separate from this other relief driven stranger? Go ahead stand hip to hip with him if you like. One of two things will happen. You’ll walk away ashamed at the minute stature of you penis or you’ll walk away questioning your sexuality – again.

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Hi All!

There’s a new show going up in El Cerrito, California at the Eclectix Gallery. It’s their Fourth Annual Halloween Show and wouldn’t you know it, I’ve had some of my work accepted into the exhibition (big surprise there). Here’s the online promo:

I was really hoping it would feature one of my works. Patricia Zemanek, the gallery curator had asked me earlier for a hi-res image of my painting “If You Could See What’s On My Mind” for promotional purposes (in Hi-Fructose magazine no less!) but she decided to go with a couple of less complicated images for the sake of publishable clarity. It would have been nice to see it used for the online promo or postcard promo piece in lieu. Oh well…c’est la vie.

There are 50 artists in the show and 81 artworks on display. Three of them are mine. These are the pieces that were accepted into the exhibition. Click on a pic for a larger view.

 
The show starts on October 16th and goes all the way until November 29th. That’s a good six weeks folks! If you’re in El Cerrito, California or should find yourself nearby in say, Berkeley in the near future drop-in to the Eclectix Gallery and take a look at the show. There is a lot of really professional artwork on display. If you like my work I’m sure you’ll appreiate the work of Dean Fleming, Mark Thompson, Dan Harding and Jacqueline Gallagher. All of them are represented in the show and their artworks are absolutely stunning!

You can find the Eclectix Gallery online at www.eclectixstore.com . Follow the current exhibition link at the top of the page to see all the works listed in a visual format. Every work is expertly represtented. Eclectix really has their Sh#@t  wired tight. The exhibition will really be something to see!

Update: November 2nd, 2009

Here’s a picture that I pulled off the Eclectix Gallery website. It shows a couple of patrons of the gallery checking out the show before it opened officially and they are staring at none other than my piece “An Investigation of ‘Cute’ “. How is that for an ego boost? I hope they buy it.

For now, that is all. Goodnight.

Hi all!

Sorry that I haven’t posted a lot lately. I’ve been busy trying to find a job so that Cath and I don’t starve in the near future. It’s funny how an impending total lack of monetary funds can creep in and fill up your days with job searches, resume writing and interviews.

Any who, I’ve been working on some new ideas which have been born out of necessity in conjunction with my return to the drudgery of the work-a-day world. I’m going to find myself cramped for time very soon so I’ve been experimenting with some new ways to continue to create artwork but do it in a more timely manner than I’ve been acheiving with my acrylic paintings. The idea is to create one new work a week. Here’s what I’ve come up with.

It’s just an experiment really. It’s gouache and ballpoint pen on PK5 board. For those of you who don’t know what gouache is it’s kind of like watercolours more evolved cousin. It’s water soluble, reacts similarly like watercolours in that it can be thinned out and used for washes yet it has an acrylic like permant quality when used in a concentrated form and is very vibrant in hue. Highly pigmented, it can cover just about anything in one pass. It has been fun playing with it.

I’ve pulled out my drawing skills to fill in all the little details and so far I think it’s worked out very well. This piece was certainly acheived a lot faster than an acrylic painting of the same size and detail would have been. I’ve been thinking of working up a series of these pieces so I can put together an illustration portfolio.

I’m a fan of the look of this artwork. It reminds me of old school etchings from books and newspapers of yesteryear. I’m going to be working up a lot more pieces like this in the future. I’m placing them in their own gallery under the heading ‘Illustrations’ in the right hand column. Look for updates to go there.

It’s already been suggested that I should do childrens books. I think I’ll have to tone down the creep factor just a bit first. I hope to be able to take this style of work into the world of book cover illustration or possibly even into comic book covers etc. If you like what you see and think it might work well for a project you currently have in the works please don’t hesitate to contact me. As I said early, I’m on the verge of poverty so any work that utilizes my skills as an artist would not be turned away.

If you like it or you don’t, don’t be afraid to tell me what you think. I’d love to hear from you. Leave a comment

For now, that is all. Goodnight.