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Posts Tagged ‘KADA Gallery’

Where Does the Red Flute Live?

Posted in Early Paintings, Influences, tagged , on December 19, 2008| 1 Comment »

Red FluteThis is an older painting from the mid 90’s that I call Red Flute.  It was one of the last Exiles pieces and one that always pleases me very much when I come across it in my files.  I wonder, when I look at a piece such as this, how the person who has this painting in their home or office views it.  Do they stop and look at it at all or has it melded with all the other artifacts in their life, a background to their existence?  Have they created their own myth of  the red flute and its meaning?

I often wonder what part, if any, the paintings play in the lives of those who acquire them.  I hear stories such as the one from Kada Gallery owner Kathy DeAngelo who told me about her son who lives in California and has a small piece of mine.  When he and his mate leave home for any period of time they take the piece with them for fear it might be stolen.

A young lady several years ago told me that she owned a painting of mine that traveled with her and while she had been living in Brazil she had specifically told the lady who cleaned her apartment to never touch the piece.  She said the housekeeper would veer around the part of the wall where the painting hung.

I am fortunate to hear such stories and it’s gratifying to know that your work can live on as a part of other people’s lives.  It’s one of those motivators on those days when the whole act of painting seems foreign and very abstract, when you stop in mid-stroke wondering, “Why am I doing this?” 

And I’ve had a few of those…

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Miserlou

Posted in Neat Stuff, Video, tagged , , , , , , on December 18, 2008| Leave a Comment »

Faust's GuitarWell, I’m on the road today, heading out to Erie, to see my good friends at the Kada Gallery and to deliver several commission pieces.  It’s always good to hit the road once in a while and clear away the studio cobwebs.  I thought I’d share a little Miserlou from surf guitar god Dick Dale.  Most probably know this piece from Quentin Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction and, while I think his use of music in that film was masterful, there’s something kind of cool in this clip by itself.  Maybe it’s the blonde twisting away in front of them.  Maybe it’s the side to side sway of the Del-Tones, all looking like they just came from a Chamber of Commerce mixer.  I think my dad may have bought insurance from the drummer and I’m pretty sure the bass player is Al Franken.  Maybe it’s just the alliterative power and the dark contrast of Dick Dale himself, picking away at that mesmerizing Middle Eastern melody.  Whatever, give it a look and listen…

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Show Aftermath

Posted in Recent Paintings, Technique/History, tagged , , on October 6, 2008| Leave a Comment »

     Well, I got home yesterday from attending the opening of my show at the Kada Gallery in Erie.  It went very well which kind of surprised me given the state of the economy and the tense mood that seems to grip our country.  Perhaps people were looking for a little respite from the chaos…

     As always, the highlight for me is meeting the people who turn out, learning how they feel about the work, and getting to hear a bit about their lives although the problem with this kind of event is that I don’t get to spend more than a few moments with anyone. This, as I note in the last posting, always makes me worry that I might cut someone off or appear rude.  I hope that was not the case.  

It was good to see folks who were my last exhibit at the Kada in 2006 and catch up a bit.  I also met many people for the first time such as Anne Z. from Cape Cod who flew in for the show.  I am always blown away by such actions on the behalf of my work and extend to her and many others a great deal of gratitude.  Again, I wish I had more time at these openings to spend more time with such folks as Anne.

I also had a chance to meet Jessica and Scott Allen from the Cleveland area.  It was such a real pleasure speaking with them for a time.  Scott shared a poem from Rumi that he thought described what he felt in the work.  He sent it to me in the comment from the last posting but I will pass it on here:

All day I think about it, then at night I say it.
Where did I come from, and what am I supposed to be doing?
I have no idea.
My soul is from elsewhere, I’m sure of that,
And I intend to end up there.

— Rumi, thirteenth-century poet

Thanks, Scott. I feel extremely fortunate to get to meet folks like this.  Also, I want to send out my warmest thanks to Kathy and Joe DeAngelo of the Kada Gallery.  Their warmth and friendship is a treasure for me.  Thank you both for a great time…

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Show Day

Posted in Technique/History, tagged , , on October 4, 2008| 3 Comments »

“The Time Has Come”  Opens Tonight at the Kada Gallery

 

 

       Well, today I’m off to Erie, PA for the opening of my show, The Time Has Come at the Kada Gallery.   I’m always a little nervous on the day of a show,  worrying that the work won’t strike a chord.  But at the same time I’m looking forward to meeting the people who have watched my work over the years, to get their feedback on what they see in the work and to give them a little more information on the why’s and how’s of what I do.  I have really enjoyed meeting the many different people who have approached me at shows over the years and feel very privileged to hear their stories. The feedback from these shows give me a lot to think about when I’m isolated in the studio.  They encourage and inspire me on the days when nothing seems to be working and they give me a lot of reassurance in the knowledge that there are people out there who have connected with the work.  When you spend as much time alone as I do, it’s nice to know there are eyes out there who know and accept your work.

 

     At these exhibitions, I feel I have a certain responsibility to the people who attend.  I’m always honored that someone has taken time from their busy life to come out to see my paintings and talk for a few minutes and feel they deserve my full attention.  I often fret after a show that I didn’t get to spend enough time with certain folks or that I came off in a way I had not intended.   What I  mean by that  is that the art that takes on any importance in someone’s life does so because of what they see of themselves in the work.  This creates a unity with the work and is often quite a strong bond.  Now, if I, who have created this work, am glib or dismissive or inattentive and rude the meaning of the work changes to that person.  I may not  be explaining this well but I know this to be true.  It happened to me when I was a 17 years old aspiring writer  and went to a talk with a world-renowned author at a local college.  I listened intently and afterwards went to a reception, eager to get some advice on the career I desired.  He was rude, dismissive and half drunk.  I left and to this day have never read another word by the man.  Everything I saw in his work bcame worthless.  

So that is always in my mind at these events.  To me, it’s a rare and miraculous thing to have someone connect with my work and to that end I try to be as open, honest, and available as possible to the folks who take the time to come out to a show. 

Well, that said, I’m off…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Blue Entreaty

Posted in Painting, Recent Paintings, tagged on October 1, 2008| 1 Comment »

  I delivered the Kada Gallery show yesterday.  It’s always a bit of a relief to finally get the work to the gallery but there’s also a little remorse in knowing that there are pieces that you will never see again.  This is a small painting from the show, titled “Blue Entreaty” that fits into that category.  Even though it is small, it is full of feeling.  It will be a piece that I will be sad to leave my hands.

  It’s funny.  When you first start showing your work, you want every painting to sell because you see it as a form of validation that your work has value and therefore you have value as painter.  But after time has passed and you realize that your work does have real value, you secretly hope some pieces don’t sell, that they will come back to the studio to stay. 

  But most of the paintings are destined to leave and there’s something exciting in that as well, trying to imagine the places where they will end and the people who will look upon them.  The work lives on in that way and for me, that’s fulfilling because my work is about reaching out to people and communicating our common bonds.

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“The Time Has Come”

Posted in Technique/History, tagged on September 29, 2008| Leave a Comment »

 

For every show, I put out a short statement that somewhat describes what I feel the work in that particular show represents to me.  I don’t talk about technique or use any “artspeak”– I just try to honestly express what I see in the work.  This is the statement for my upcoming show at the Kada Gallery in Erie, PA:

 

“The Time Has Come”

Kada Gallery,  October 2008

 

The time has come…

 

Four simple words describing a tipping point, where a decision has been made and a new plan of action set in motion…

 

When I was nearing the completion of preparation for this show I began to step back from the work a bit and really examine it as a group.  I was looking for the binding element that held the work together as group and gave it an emotional stamp.  I studied piece after piece and found far horizons , suns and moons breaking moodily through clouds, slumbering houses and fragments of paths leading into the distance.  All were at a certain point of stillness and it came to me.

 

The time has come…

 

The phrase fits the work so well.  Much of the work is about a tiny moment that resides between inaction and action, about being at the point where a call to action comes and one rises to the task.  Perhaps it is the calm before the storm.  Also, some of the paintings are concerned with coming to a point of realization in one’s life where the path ahead  is clear and  a decision of momentous consequence sends you ahead.  The time has come to end one phase and begin the next.

 

Even the work from the new “Archaeology” series fit the title.  Much of it seemingly is set in a future time and hints at a world of change where the familiar objects that inhabit our lives have become buried artifacts and we are apparently absent.  One phase has ended and another has started.

 

The time has come…

 

This is how I see a lot of these paintings.  Perhaps you’ll see this as well or even better, you’ll see something of your own life and experience in one of these pieces and make a connection. Whatever the case, “the time has come” for me to give you thanks for taking the time to look.

 

So, enjoy—

 

 

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Showtime

Posted in Technique/History, tagged on September 23, 2008| 1 Comment »

I’ll talk a little more on how I started painting but right now I want to talk a bit about show preparation.  I do 3-4 solo shows a year, all at galleries that have represented my work for a while and have built up a base of collectors over the years.  These are big events for me and are a little nerve-racking.  There’s the pressure of satisfying those who follow your work, trying to give them something new and exciting so that their interest is maintained.  There’s the pressure of meeting the expectations of the gallery by producing a body of work that they feel is strong and fresh and will be excited to sell.  There is also the pressure in a solo show that your work is the main source of income for the gallery for a time and that if your work isn’t well received the gallery suffers.  There is also the pressure from myself to see growth in the work.  Finally, there is the pressure to have to meet the public and talk about my paintings.  That is often the greatest struggle mainly because the longer I do this , the more instinctual the action of painting becomes.  There is less time spent thinking out each motion.  Describing something instinctive is difficult.

The show I’m currently preparing is for the KADA Gallery in Erie, PA.  It’s a wonderful  smaller gallery ran by Kathy and Joe DeAngelo who are just wonderful folks and were one of the first galleries to see something in my work.  I have been very fortunate in the people that I’ve worked with in the gallery world and Kathy and Joe are prime examples.  They represent my work with enthusiasm and encouragement and they treat the work the work with the respect I think it deserves.  So it’s very important that I put together a show for them that is first-rate, something that hopefully really shines in the gallery.

The show is titled “The Time Has Come” and opens October 4, 2008.  In the near future I will talk more about the title and the thinking behind it but now I have work to do!

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