so we had our timeline show at redline that ran through the month of july and now already august is almost gone. i really need to get better at posting stuff in a timely manner. alas o my. it was a pretty intense experience. i busted my butt to get this painting and my mosaics done in time. i leaned how to hang a 100 pound piece of the wall with the help of "french cleats" and three strong people. i enjoyed the process of laying out the show with my fellow artists to develop a flow between the pieces and between the color and black and white elements in the show. I loved that my "pie" sculpture ended up placed in front of the last remaining section of heimo wallner's mural. i ended up echoing this combo by painting a frame heimo-style around my "sun" painting with india ink at the other end of the gallery. that was a lot of fun. that ink really flows. i had not really tried it before. it was a good discovery. the funny part is that heimo really did not groove so much on that painting. the paradox of it all was quite entertaining. all the work in the gallery really ended up looking great together and i was proud of what we had accomplished in our year of studio time as a collective group. pretty radical.

here are a few shots of the progression of the painting i started during the blizzard.

i have been doing layers of polymer medium and glazing medium between layers of paint. i am discovering a personal preference for glazing medium.

i have some new brushes today. they are awesome. really smooth. nothing like a fresh, unfrayed brush. 

the painting is coming along. i think the next step will be to introduce green. a little risky, i know. we'll see.

did i mention: Go Pack!  the Pack just won the the superbowl and all i can say is aaron rodgers is a very fine quarterback. very fine. now, glad that is over so i can get back to painting. ;)

so my experiment today is to play with acrylic paint and see if by using the right mediums to make the paint appear as luminescent as oil paint. some tell me it is true. that you really can do that. what i want to know is: is it true? Can you? i imagine to a certain extent. but not entirely.

did i mention that the paperwhites you gave me for christmas are blooming? thank you so much. i love them.

so, the latest is that mi amigo came over and showed me how to grind up pastels with a mortar and pestle to make a powder with which to mix with the egg yolk to make egg tempera. it was super fun to grind up those pastels. it just felt good. and it was super fun to paint with. when i wanted to add a bit of one color to a color i was mixing i just dipped in the brush and it all the powder stuck to the end so there was no worries about cross contaminating the colors. that was awesome. and it was even smoother than the egg and watercolor lazy mix i did the other nite. we loved the little bits of grit that would sometimes make it to the painting- and the bubble effect from the viscosity of the egg mix. the more egg i used- the more luminescent the colors. i did mix some up with the watercolors too to work with also- those colors just seemed brighter and i liked having them in the mix. there is an earthy quality to the egg tempera perhaps from the yellowness of the yolk. i like that, but wanted some pop too. they worked well together. 

this all comes about becuz i am currently obsessed with hundert wasser who painted with egg tempera. so i needed to have the experience to see why. i read that he would grind and mix in different colored bricks and charcoal and clay. he liked to make his own paint becuz he felt that paint he made himself had more life and spirit in it that factory produced paint. and for him painting was a spiritual act. he was also a huge ecologist and into living in harmony with the environment. amen brother.

gawd i'm hungry. need to eat something and go to bed. so much for my unproductive day. it apparently redeemed itself here towards the end.

Howdy. Welcome to my new blog! yipee-o-i-ay!

Sooo, this week I had the fabulous opportunity to help at Teen Night at RedLine Milwaukee. It was supercool. We started off the evening in the gallery watching some fantastic short films put together by teens at Bruce Guadelupe School that dealt with their sense of identity. It was incredible how varied and unique each film was, and what an awesome job they did filming and editing and putting it all together. I really got a glimpse into their world. I wish I had some photos of that, but alas I do not. Better luck next time.

Then, we had the honor to take a close look at the work of Milwaukee Artist Kevin Boatwright whose work is currently on display. It is super spontaneous and has a ton of texture and is just fresh como la lechuga if you know what I mean. He talked with us about how he approaches his work (he gets his materials together and goes for it) and how thankful he is to "just have a moment of serenity" in which to create. How cool is that? I can feel it. He utilizes boards, window caulk, paint, spoons, palette knives & paint brushes to create his masterpieces. He likes to "keep things real" and paint from the heart to make art that can speak to his people. Dig it.

Then, Kevin led us in a workshop and demonstrated his technique in the classroom. That's when things got really crazy. Check it out: