The Big Show

"Oakhill Eagles" - 2010 - Waterborne on board - 4"x4"

Well, it has been interesting being sidelined by such a potent cold. However, the really nice thing about working in the same place that you live are the opportunities to get a few things done here and there despite something like a cold slowing you down. This week has been an exercise in painting in the windows of feeling ok.

"Semper Fidelis" - 2010 - Waterborne on Steel - 1.13"x2"

My sister Katie is involved with an auction/fundraiser in November and I was able to finish up the painting that I planned on donating to the event. While the cold kept me from being productive enough to finish the two paintings that were on the bench for this week, at least this one got done being on the tighter timeline of the two. The other painting on the bench was the fourth painting in the dog tag series of paintings. These dog tag paintings have really taken on a life of their own which is great to see. The series of five paintings will be the feature paintings at my first solo show planned for January 16^th.

"Army Strong" - 2010 - Waterborne on Steel - 1.13"x2"

My work currently hangs at the SAART gallery in Stoughton, Massachusetts which is a co-op gallery made up of the work of twelve talented artists. As a co-op gallery we all share the responsibilities of running the gallery. This involves everything from running the gallery during operating hours to creating and organizing events. Members like Erin Crowley have set up open figure drawing nights, other members have organized charity events like Elaine Ostrander’s open house to benefit the Massachusetts State Police K-9 program.

In one of our recent member meetings we had begun to talk about putting together shows to feature our artists. They were looking for a volunteer to kick it off and I gladly accepted. Having a solo show is really extremely important for an artist. It is that time when all the new work can be brought together and shown at once. While there is always a lot of planning and preparation for a solo show, it is by far worth the experience.

"Strong to Save" - 2010 - Waterborne on Steel - 1.13"x2"

Since I have been producing a lot on very small paintings recently, I decided that the show coming up would be a great opportunity to feature them all. In addition to that, the show would be a great opportunity to raise some money for a good cause. My good friend Ken Taylor had mentioned that he had some blank dog tags at his shop that I could have and they became the perfect substrate for the donation paintings. These five paintings, representing the different branches of the military would raise money for the US Wounded Soldiers Foundation.

So the rush now is to get them all finished by mid November so they can be featured in all of the press releases. Once the press releases are out, I will be able to focus on finishing all the remaining paintings for the show. The goal is to hit twenty new paintings.

For tonight though, I have decided to give in to my pounding headache, stuffed sinuses and achy back and get some rest.

Thanks for checking in and I’ll talk to you next week!