October 25, 2012

Work in Progress

My next solo exhibition is at the George Billis Gallery in Los Angeles. I've been working through the summer and fall on twelve paintings for the show. Nothing is more satisfying than reaching the end of the final piece.

Here are some in-progress images of a few of the pieces I'll have in the show. More details as we get closer to the opening of the show, which starts on November 17 and runs through January 5, 2013.


October 19, 2012

Bakersfield Museum of Art / Fall Exhibits

Vikki Cruz, the curator at the Bakersfield Museum of Art, and her assistant Claire Putney share some thoughts on the Fall 2012 exhibitions.

October 5, 2012

The Still Life Group Show / Elliott Fouts Gallery

The Elliott Fouts Gallery in Sacramento, California, is hosting an invitational group exhibition featuring eleven artists, including myself.

The show runs from October 6 - November 1, 2012 and features paintings of contemporary still life. I have six paintings in the exhibition.

Click on any image for more information.


The exhibition is featured in the October 2012 American Art Collector magazine.



September 11, 2012

New Realism / Bakersfield Museum of Art

It is an honor and a privilege to announce my solo exhibition, New Realism, at the Bakersfield Museum of Art, on display from September 13 - November 25, 2012.

The show features fourteen of my book themed paintings, a subject I have worked with for the past several years.

I have slowly refined the way I use books in my paintings. What were once simple props, I started paying closer attention to the actual books. Vintage primary readers are particularly interesting. With overtly optimistic and naive titles, they are a great example of the way our culture idealizes our recent history. Contrasted with early phsycoanalytical books or heavy psychology and ethics texts from the early 20th century and you have an interesting juxtaposition.

At the same time, the simple rectangular shapes, the colors and textures of the spines and pages make for endless possibilities for me as a painter to explore. The organized and tidy stack of vintage and antique books have small details in torn edges, fraying covers, dented spines, discolored pages. A jumbled pile of books, a line of books precariously leaning on one another. All set on softly lit neutral grounds and a clean white shelf.

I like the universality that books as objects present. They are symbolic. They are our combined and collected knowledge printed for posterity, all on decaying paper. We fret over losing the art of reading, the genuine experience and pleasure of a book as we invent and perfect new ways to consume the written word. iPads, Kindles, smartphones — ebooks, they are becoming commonplace and cheaper by the day. I think that as long as someone is writing something worth reading, it doesn't really matter how you take it in.

And as long as second-hand book stores and antique shops have multitudes of books to offer, I doubt I'll ever run out of ideas that I can transform in to paintings.


The exhibition features five new paintings (above)
and nine on loan from collectors (below)

(click here for more information on the new paintings)

August 19, 2012

American Arts Quarterly, Summer 2012


I had the opportunity to share my working process, ideas and inspiration with American Arts Quarterly magazine, who reviewed my June 2012 exhibition at the Elliott Fouts Gallery.

I think it is a good review, and provides a clear understanding of my work.

You can read the review here.

August 12, 2012

Still Life: The Painted Image

The Washington County Museum of Fine Art, in conjunction with the George Billis Gallery NY, is exhibiting a group show of contemporary still life paintings from August 2012 through January 2013.

I am honoured to have three paintings included in the exhibition. You can read a feature article about the exhibition here.

The Italian
20" x 32"  /  Oil/Canvas  /  2012


Remington
20" x 32"  /  Oil/Canvas  /  2012

5:00, 4:00, 3:00, 2:00, 1:00
18" x 36"  /  Oil/Canvas  /  2012