Take one down pass it around

"Roadside View 1 & 2" - 24" x 24" each - oil

Despite my absence I have been busier than a beaver in a coffee lake. Let's see...earlier this month we took a trip to Richmond, VA to pick up some panels/frames and spend some quality time with friends and family. From there we drove to Nashville,TN to see more family as well as drop off a couple of pieces at The Arts Company (like the two above).

Although it was a work day in Nashville I found time to celebrate my birthday. We walked through downtown Nashville, spent time with family and had a great dinner. Despite being kicked out of the truck by my niece (because I'm a boy...duuuh), it was certainly one of the better birthdays of recent memory.

So what have I been working on recently? Well the big project right now is my first major solo show in Richmond, VA. The show is titled "Between Homes" and will focus on the beautiful sights between Ohio and Virginia. The plan is to have about 40 landscapes painted by November 6th. As of today I've completed 22 paintings with 9 in progress and a little more than a month left. IT'S GO TIME!

Who cut the Cheese?

The Cheese - 5" x 7" - oil

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Do you remember "the cheese?" Maybe you had some other nickname for the school bus? I'm not sure why we called it "the cheese". Maybe it was the smell from little boys breaking wind or just the color of the glowing yellow of the bus. Growing up, the ride to and from school was one of the biggest social times of the day (just behind lunch and recess). You could find out if you missed anything on TV the previous night or all sorts of juicy kid gossip. More importantly the school bus is where I got my first taste of taking on art commissions. At any time of the year there was some kind of science project or report that would require a display or drawing. Many times the drawing needed to be done on the ride to school. On a good day I could make enough to take care of lunch for a week. "The cheese"...were I got my start.

Today's Columbus Day but more importantly it's my mother's birthday. Happy Birthday Mom!

Old Men are made of Cookie Dough

Case Tractor #2 - 8" x 10" - oil

This past week was a mental uphill battle as I celebrated yet another birthday (how old?...who knows). Getting older can be tough on everyone and especially hard on those who have high expectations for themselves. I spent the first half of the week reflecting and thinking about what, if anything, I've accomplished. The latter part of the week was dedicated to self loathing and a barrage of pity. Don't worry, this story doesn't end with me drowning my sorrows in a tub of raw cookie dough.

I later came across an old book amongst my collection that remained unread. It was the perfect time to read this particular book (kids...Reading is FUNdamental!). The book is titled Art and Fear: Observations on the perils (and rewards) of Artmaking by David Bayles and Ted Orland. If you're a tortured artist or know of one I would highly recommend it. It really put things into perspective and pulled me down off of that ledge.