Camera Obsession

When I was an art history student, I studied early photography and the emergence of the "snapshot" and candid photography — made possible by the proliferation of Kodak box cameras and Brownies.

I was studying this just as digital point-and-shoot cameras started to show up for regular consumers to use. Long before camera phones, iPhones, Instagram, Flickr, Facebook. Long before we had to apply filters to give our photographs a sense of time and narrative. Photographs used to come to us days, weeks, months after we took them. And they already had a "patina" of sorts applied to them. Mega pixel count, image stabilisation and rapid, precise autofocus weren't available. We weren't reviewing and editing our images moments after we took them. We weren't sharing them within minutes with huge networks friends colleagues. Instead they were placed in an album or shoebox and found decades later.

I like painting these old cameras. I find them in antique shops — they're all over the place and easy to come by. Sometimes they still have film in them.

I like the idea that these cameras once captured all these moments and family history.

Four Vintage Cameras
16" x 24" / Oil/Canvas

Four Kodaks
20" x 20" / Oil/Canvas

Argus
24" x 16" / Oil/Canvas

George Billis Gallery NY

I'll be having my first exhibition in New York City at the George Billis Gallery (521 West 26th Street) from January 21 - February 15, 2014.

The show will have 13 paintings, and the reception is on Thursday, January 23, from 6-8pm.

I'll share more of the images over the next few days.

Mint Rotary Telephone
18" x 24"  /  Oil/Canvas  /  2013
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Threes
18" x 24"  /  Oil/Canvas  /  2013
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On We Go
18" x 18"  /  Oil/Canvas  /  2013
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Fifteen Years at the EFG

I have a painting in the Elliott Fouts Gallery's 15th Anniversary group exhibition — January 4 - February 6, 2014.

Elliott invited me to show my work at his gallery six years ago — and the past six years have been productive and fantastic. After several group and solo exhibitions, it is exciting to have my work at the best gallery in Sacramento.

Stories We Like
20" x 20"  /  Oil/Canvas

Work in Progress

I have an exhibition coming up in September in Yountville, California. I've been working on it throughout the summer. Which is usually difficult, considering it's summer. There's a strong force pulling me out of the studio and in to the outdoors.

But I'm happy with the work I've been able to produce. Here's a glimpse at some of the pieces I've been making.

New Paintings 2013 / Catalog

The show catalog, featuring all twenty of the paintings at my current exhibition at the Elliott Fouts Gallery in Sacramento is available. You can email the gallery (elliottfoutsgallery@gmail.com) if you're interested in seeing it in person.

American Art Collector Magazine / June 2013

There's a great feature article on the June 2013 issue of American Art Collector Magazine. Just around the corner now, only a few days for my fourth consecutive show at the Elliott Fouts Gallery. Check it out.

More Work in Progress

I'm still working away for my June show at the Elliott Fouts Gallery. Here are a few more images of what I'm working on. I'll share color photos later in May, closer to when the paintings are hanging in the gallery. But I still have work to do before then. Happy spring!

Work in Progress

I've been busy for the last several weeks working toward my next exhibition, at the Elliott Fouts Gallery, in June. Over the years I've documented my progress in the studio in black and white photography.

At one point in my life, I spent a tremendous amount of time in a traditional wet dark room, with an enlarger and rolls and rolls of black and white film. I love the aesthetic of a black and white image. I think they tell a story in a different way, unlike colour images.

I'm deep in the details of painting and love and appreciate every minute I get to do it. Over the coming weeks, you can expect more progress images.

If you're viewing this on a computer browser, check out these images of B&W photos from the past few years.

Anna Enquist Book Cover

A painting that I did a few years ago is being used for the cover of a new book published in the Netherlands. The book is an anthology of poetry from Anna Enquist.

A while back I also I had some images used by an Italian book publisher. It's an honour having the images used. I just wish I was able to read the books as they're never in English.

Also, it's been a long while since I have published anything on this blog. I settled in for my long winter painting session. Soon I'll share some progress images of what I've been up to.

Recent Paintings / George Billis Gallery LA

For years now, I've been asked several times if I'm showing my work in Los Angeles. Finally, I'm excited to announce my first solo exhibition at the George Billis Gallery LA, in Culver City (you can find the gallery here).

The show runs from November 17, 2012 - January 5, 2013.

I'll be in attendance for the opening reception, on Saturday, November 17 from 5 - 8pm.

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.

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.

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.

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)

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.

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

click here for more information

Remington

20" x 32"  /  Oil/Canvas  /  2012

click here for more information

5:00, 4:00, 3:00, 2:00, 1:00

18" x 36"  /  Oil/Canvas  /  2012

click here for more information

An Artist Retreat

I'm a studio painter. I used to do plein air style work, as a student. I tried all sorts of different ways of working, different materials, different mediums. But slowly over time I developed a process and subject that work well for me. One that suits my personality. I think every painter or artist eventually finds a way of working that suits their personality.

So when the time comes to travel, I usually start to get anxious about leaving my work place.

A secluded artist retreat.

So it took much thought and preparation when my family was presented with the opportunity to live for a month in a country home, far from the city, far from my studio. It's something my wife and children were really looking forward to doing. Spending time with animals and deeply immersed in a quiet sanctuary on our own.

The place we were staying provided a studio space for me, and I'm so grateful they took the time to figure out how to make it work for me. So I was able to pack up my space and work the way I'm used to. With several exhibitions coming up this fall, there was no option to take time off painting. I need to keep going and follow the momentum of my work.

Every day, the landscape took us by surprise.

The experience we had over the month of being away is something that will stick with every single one of us for the rest of our lives.

My children spending time with animals that were once intimidating.

Time with animals makes you feel more human and more alive.

Without any exaggeration, the most stunning sky you can imagine.

So in the end, we all got something out of our time away. Every day we walked out in to the hills and were mesmerized by our surroundings. We found out about what has been missing from our lives, and now see things we have been taking for granted. And now we will add a little of what's missing, and appreciate the things we have a little more.

Silhouettes

These two paintings are all about the negative space and the silhouettes they create. The square canvas, deep black rectangular body to the right, and the triangular shape of the bellows with its repetitive lines make it a simple yet bold composition.

The candle stick phones do the same thing, but along with the movement cords there is a subtle hint of color — a patina on the phones metallic parts that bring it just barely out of the monochromatic tones. The phones also have such a strong character. My wife says they almost seem penguin-like with their stance and beaks turned in opposing directions.

As subjects, they're like an homage to the roots of our technology that is common place to us now. We obsess over our smartphones and seem to forget how breakthroughs in photography and telecommunications have been going on for 100+ years. Right at the very foundation of it all, nothing has changed. All this stuff is about connecting and sharing. It always has been.

Antique German Camera

24" x 24"  |  Oil/Canvas  |  2012

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Antique Candle Stick Phones
24" x 24"  |  Oil/Canvas  |  2012
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Oliver Profile

If I had to pick a favourite out of the 22 paintings I made for the June 2012 exhibition at the Elliott Fouts Gallery, I'd have to consider Oliver Profile. It's something I did for the pure enjoyment of getting lost in all the details.

On first glance, not many people would know what it is. It stands out, being almost unrecognizable as a typewriter (I assure you, it is one) with it's unique wing-like design.

I found this typewriter in an old-tech "graveyard" of sorts. Hidden in the back of an ancient town hall in the middle of the prairie, sits a dark room bursting with adding machines, typewriters and copy machines. And on a low shelf in a corner I found this typewriter, where it sat for decades, unnoticed with its cover firmly in place. It was completely abandoned by time and technology advances.

I marvel at the intricate mechanics. The engineering prowess it took to piece together such a complicated machine simply intrigues me.

I chose to look at the typewriter from a different angle — a dead-on side profile. The negative space the profile of the typewriter creates, the contrast of the heavy, solid, deep green body and the myriad of dials, gears, knobs, levers, bolts — it was such a pleasure to paint. And through painting, I think the object goes through an organic metamorphosis. After some time, I finally figured it out — this typewriter was basically a functioning piece of steampunk art. That's why I love it.

Oliver Profile
20" x 30"  |  Oil/Canvas  |  2012
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It Went Well

The grand opening reception of the new location of the Elliott Fouts Gallery was something you had to see to appreciate. To say it was a full house is an understatement. The place was packed, shoulder to shoulder. I think the people of Sacramento are enjoying the new gallery, as they should.

By the end of the evening, 18 of the 22 paintings I have in the exhibition were sold. I wasn't expecting that kind of a response to my work, and I think any artist would tell you that such an event is remarkably validating. I think I'll keep doing what I do.

A quiet view of the exhibition

After four consecutive years of exhibitions in Sacramento, the best part is seeing familiar faces at the gallery. The Sunday following the reception, Kerrie Kelly and Vinny Catalano hosted a brunch so I could meet some more collectors. I was completely honoured by their hospitality. Every single conversation I had was enlightening and enjoyable.

Many thanks to the fine people at the gallery — Elliott Fouts, Michelle Satterlee, Cynthia Lou and Sherry Ngai. It's a privilege to work with them!