studio update

 Check out this Jell-o video- it is very beautiful.

The video reminded me of an old painting of mine. This painting (30" x 36") is from 2005. Abstract Jell-O....

DoubleDecker 2011

Pet Parade!

Cake on a stick from Honeybee

North Mississippi Allstars

Awww hail

 Last night, it was dark and stormy. I finally found out what ping pong size hail looks like. Luckily, it didn't last long and our cars were under the carport.

 I headed up to Memphis today. I went to the art store, thrift store, and David Lusk Gallery. DLG was one of the first galleries that I went to in college. I love the space!

I need to go to there.

DLG is showing Jared Small's work. I loved the "Lou's" painting. It was painted on mylar. I want to play with some of that this summer. I really liked the effect- hazy but tight.

 The painting above is the strongest. I didn't write down the title. It sparkled from across the room. I really like how he manipulated light and color. It was subtle but very smart. His elegant decaying buildings are the most compelling of the show.

April update

studio update

We headed up to Sardis, MS to Tribecca Allie. It is a brick oven pizzeria, run by a couple from New York. I had heard rumblings from my friends, but we were convinced to make the drive from this article.

Sardis+ really good pizza= amazingly great unexpected experience.

Here is a painting update. I am really having fun with numbers!

I am really excited about this show!

Related events- Brown bag lecture about contemporary painting on Monday at the museum.

Q and A with the artist, Thursday, April 14 at 9:30 am, Meek 120, Art Department, Ole Miss.

This should be fun!

Saint Louis Art Museum (SLAM!)

 SLAM at night...

 Gerhard Richter, January, December, November, 1989. These paintings are massive- I would bet they are 12' x 15'. The amount of detail in the work is really dense and complex. My battery was fading at this point. I could have taken a ton of pictures

 Gerhardt Richter, Betty, 1988. This is a lovely painting. It is probably 4' x 3'. It is soft up close and hard from across the room.

 Ahhh Giacometti ....

The German painting at SLAM is really nice, Sigmar Polke, Max Beckmann, etc. I really loved the Kentridge films.

Studio update- This painting is 5' x 4'. It is based off a photo from Mexico City.

How to Steal Like An Artist

I just got back from the FATE conference in St. Louis. I have some pictures to share with you but my camera battery is dead. Stay tuned.

I chaired a session on Radical Erasures/ 21st century drawing. I also moderated a discussion with Matt Homann of CocaBiz. One of his topics was the positive qualities of art students and what they could bring to business. It was interesting to think about the culture of art/ art school and how it is different than other disciplines.

This is one of the things he said in our session...

What artists can give to business
1) ability to critique, give feedback
2) collaboration
3) creativity under deadline

This post by Austin Kleon is really interesting. He talks about appropriation- it is not what you take, but how you use it. He also gives some advice on how to live a creative/ productive life.

La Dolce Vita

 On this gray day, I thought I would tell you about the best or most colorful meal we had in Mexico City. We went to Dolce Patria in the Polanco neighborhood. I ordered the house margarita and I was in love... hot pink, gold rim, and flowers! I took 15 pictures before I started drinking. I felt kind of goofy taking a ton of pictures of our food until I saw the table next to us doing the same.

 Here is the appetizer. It was some kind of taco.

 Here is my fish dish- it was yummy. I didn't eat the giant crablike dried chile, but I appreciated the aesthetic quality it added.

 Here is Vanessa and Greg's dessert, Tres Leches Cake with ice cream. I order a dessert too, but mine was not as photogenic.

La Dolce Patria, 12" x 16"

I made a little painting from my photos. I am going to have some large prints made to see if they would work for a large painting. I love the over-the-top color, femininity (Martha Ortiz is the chef), and deliciousness of Dulce Patria.

Funny Face cake

16" x 20"

Breaking news! I just finished a new painting. I promise this is the last painting with a face. One of the weird things about this (from vintage imagery) is that "fun" is spelled out on the side of the cake. I love a cake that is so blatant about the emotion you are supposed to have when you look/eat it.

Xochimilco

Mexican party barge

I can't believe it has been a week since we were in Xochimilco. Here are some of the strange and wonderful sights.

Floating food court

Island of lost toys

Flowers at the market

Mole powder at the market

Last day....

Beaded bug

We are back in Mississippi, but here is a highlight from our last day. We visited the Museo Nacional de Artes Populares (Folk Art Museum). It was really great to see all of the finest crafts from all over the country.

Museo Nacional de Anthropologica

We visited the anthropology museum today. It has an incredible collection of pre-columbian art. This is a statue (about 3 feet tall) from the Aztec period. The Aztecs love skulls...

Teotihuacan

We headed north of the city to the pyramids. This is the view from the pyramid of the sun which is the 3rd highest pyramid in the world.

Coyocan

Here is a fountain in the jardin hildago. It is a beautiful colonial plaza in the very nice neighborhood of coyocan. Around the corner, they were filming an episode of Mexican tv.