Saturday, October 16th- Cuba Lakes Show with Matt Isbell

SHAWART STUDIO, ST. LOUIS, MO
October 5th, 2010
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Cuba Lakes welcomes Cuba High Alumni artists Matt Isbell and Colin Michael Shaw on Saturday, October 16th. In conjunction with the Cuba Fest weekend activities, an artist’s reception, free and open to the public will be held from 7pm – 10pm. Cuba Lakes Clubhouse is located at 241 Highway O in Cuba, MO. A special acoustic musical performance by Myles Shaw will entertain the crowd throughout the course of the evening.

The two artists began drawing together after meeting in fifth grade at Cuba R2 schools, often times spending entire weekends at one another’s childhood homes sharing their creative ideas, play, and drawing time. Keeping in touch over the years, Isbell built his career in graphic arts and illustration while Shaw developed his techniques in modern fine art painting. “Though Matt and I grew in very different directions stylistically, we could both easily see a real connection in our current work- the surrealist, fantasy elements prevalent in what we are both doing is undeniable,” says Shaw “An otherworldly influence present in our art is what ties it together- two very distinct, yet both highly imaginative approaches.”

Isbell’s work can be seen and fine art prints purchased at misbell.imagekind.com and misbell.deviantart.com. The day to day of Shaw’s work can be followed at his online artist’s journal: http://shawart.blogspot.com/

End of My Residency at Urban Arts Collective...

"Sister Moon" 2010
carved PVC board, acrylic, varnish
6.75 x 14.25"


My three month residency at Urban Arts Collective is coming to an end- this weekend will likely be your chance to see it, along with the work of Tony Renner, Jane Linders, Craig Downs, and Kevin Belford. Tony will in fact be hosting his last showing at the Collective this Sunday, September 26th from 11am to 2pm- get down to see Tony’s work while you still can! Thanks to everyone who came to all the openings and share a bite to eat with us at the café- we do this because it’s what we love to do, and we appreciate your support :)

Along with the fourteen canvases I made for my run at The Collective, I also produced three carvings for the new grouping on “signpainter’s board, which is essentially a thick PVC board that can be cut and shaped with carpentry tools or even with a small handtool- in my case a small bamboo pick. I was gifted these three chucks of board years ago by my beloved painting teacher Charles SHOEmaker. SHOE said, “Here Colin, take these and see what you can do with them- it’s kinda fun to play with.” I promptly put them in my closet for seventeen years and forgot about it. While digging through stuff looking for inspiration for new work at the Collective I uncovered them and started scraping out designs- they became “Soldier”, “Soldier with Child” (pictured below), and “Sister Moon”(pictured above). I’d like to make more, but found that SHOE was giving me some scrap of REALLY expensive material, so I dunno what will come of that. He always treated me like a son, and the older I get the more I appreciate it… I wish he was still here so I could tell him, but at least I FINALLY did something with the damned boards! :D

"Soldier" 2010
carved PVC board, acrylic, varnish
8.75 x 15.625"

"Soldier with Child" 2010
carved PVC board, acrylic, varnish
10 x 16"

New Paintings: Sunday, Sept. 19th

New Old Stuff on my Etsy Store

"The One I Love", 2001
silver paint pen, colored pencil, watercolor on paper
approx. 10.5 x 7.5"
From the artist's private archive of drawings/paintings

Hiya. Been super busy making new paintings for my final event/show during my tenure at Urban Arts Collective- it has been fun, and a real challenge making a whole new group of paintings to keep up as the summer has progressed. I'm working on five new paintings right now, in fact!

In other news, I've started putting some of my never-shown-before paintings from my private archive up on the ShawArt Etsy Store. These are paintings I created over the last several years, and promptly hid in a box after completion. Some of the images were sold as prints all across Missouri and The United States during various travels and in retail establishments... it's fun to think of ALL THOSE PRINTS floating around out there somewhere, and maybe YOU have one- who knows?

Don't be afraid to peek!
Thank You!

Sneak Peek...

"Winter" 2010
24 x 30"
acrylic, mixed media on canvas

Here's a sneak peek at one of my new paintings that will be showing this Sunday, Aug. 15th at the Urban Arts Collective in sunny South Saint Louis. Come by and say hello from 11:00am to 2:00pm- I look forward to seeing you :)

New Paintings @ Urban Arts, Sunday August 15th

Urban Arts Collective welcomes artist Colin Michael Shaw on Sunday August 15th. A visit with the artist, free and open to the public, will be held from 11am – 2pm. Urban Arts Collective is adjacent to Urban Eats Café at 3301 Meramec, St. Louis, MO 63118. This showing of the painter’s newest works created in the last few months will be the second of three during his residency throughout the entire summer at the Collective which hosts four to five artists at a time for three months tenure. “I will continue the new work all summer and present as completed on the second and third showings of Sunday, August 15th and Sunday, September 19th, both from 11am to 2pm.”, says Shaw. “This is a great opportunity to work in a progressive St. Louis neighborhood not far from where my father was raised, which fascinates me.”

Urban Eats Café is a casual neighborhood eatery serving healthy and fresh-made menu items. In cooperation with the Arts Collective, surrounding local businesses, the Dutchtown Downtown Business Assoc. and youth outreach of the Dutchtown South Neighborhood Community Corps, Urban Eats thriving among the urban revitalization of this South St. Louis community. For more information visit urbaneatscafe.com or the artist’s blog http://shawart.blogspot.com/

Play Time

Untitled, 2010
mixed media collage on canvas
11 x 14"

I made a couple abstract collage pieces last week while I was taking a break from painting for my summer shows at Urban Arts Collective. I used magazine paper, acrylic paint and clear glue, which I later varnished heavily with clear gloss. They wont be going to my space at Urban Eats because they were just for fun/experimental and they don't fit the theme of the other work I'm doing all summer, but they are kinda far out :D

See the paintings from my show last Sunday at http://www.facebook.com/pages/SHAWARTCOM/118553604822321 or just pop by The Collective this Sunday, July 18th at 11:00 -2:00pm and see them in person- Tony Renner and I will be there with our work for his official opening.

Untitled, 2010
mixed media collage on canvas
11 x 14"

Thank You

Had a great time at the show on Sunday- the premises were at full capacity. Nice looking group of people- I was impressed. That made for a Sun FunDay :)
Here's a picture Hilary Hitchcock snapped of Tony Renner and I in front of one of his many great photos at Urban Arts Collective. I love it :)
Thank you Tony & Hilary for curating the July-Sept. lineup at Urban Arts, Thank you Caya Aufiero for having us there, thank you to all my family, friends, and art lovers for supporting me- I really appreciate it :)
You can see the show anytime during business hours at Urban Eats/Urban Arts Collective- see http://www.urbaneatscafe.com/ for more info

Sneak Peek

another Sneak Peek at one of the nine new paintings to be shown at the upcoming July 11th opening of my new 2010 work at Urban Arts Collective in South St. Louis...
"Ship of Fools" 2010
acrylic, mixed media collage 18 x 24"


SHAWART.COM

Sunday July 11th at Urban Arts Collective, 11am to 2pm

Urban Arts Collective welcomes artist Colin Michael Shaw on Sunday July 11th. An artist’s reception, free and open to the public, will be held from 11am – 2pm. Urban Arts Collective is adjacent to Urban Eats Café at 3301 Meramec, St. Louis, MO 63118. This showing of the painter’s newest works created in the last two months will be the first of three during the his residency throughout the entire summer at the Collective, which hosts four to five artists at a time for a three month tenure. “I will continue the new work all summer and present as completed on the second and third showings of Sunday, August 15th and Sunday, September 19th, both from 11am to 2pm.”, says Shaw. “This is a great opportunity to work in a progressive St. Louis neighborhood not far from where my father was raised, which fascinates me.”

Urban Eats Café is a casual neighborhood eatery serving healthy and fresh-made menu items. In cooperation with the Arts Collective, surrounding local businesses, the Dutchtown Downtown Business Assoc. and youth outreach of the Dutchtown South Neighborhood Community Corps, Urban Eats thriving among the urban revitalization of this South St. Louis community. For more information visit urbaneatscafe.com or the artist’s blog www.shawart.blogspot.com

Shaw with "All the King's Horses, All the King's Men", 30 x 40", acrylic, mixed media on canvas

CM Shaw at Urban Arts Collective- All Summer Long

This is a preview poster of my 3 month stint at Urban Arts Collective from July through September. I will make new paintings for each of my three "events", Sunday July 11th being the 1st. It will be a marathon summer full of painting- I hope to see you at one or more of my 3 introductions of the new work as it unfolds.... I am painting furiously. It's going to be a very productive summer...

You might have already noticed that we have moved SHAWART.COM to Facebook- I did this for a few reasons: it will be easier for me to put new work and events up myself, Facebook is extremely popular right now, there is no charge to host my work on this platform, and I wanted to peel away some of the less important work from the past and focus on the more recent paintings. I've made a lot of work over the years... sorting it out is sometimes more work than making it. TAKE A PEEK at my SHAWART.COM Facebook page- click the LIKE BUTTON and be a friend, OR suggest to a friend who likes art- I really appreciate it! Big props to Michael Dickens for the years of hard work making shawart.com happen- you are the best!

The general internet public will still have access to all my picture galleries on the "new site", and I have already put up an album of work that is still available for purchase- feel free to inquire, my contact info is on the site. I pretty much sold a painting for every day in the month this past April, so if you are waiting you might want to reconsider. That being said, I want to extend a BIG thank you to all my patrons past and present- when you take one home it enables me to keep making new work. I'd also like to thank Brett Steen at Avante Art, Bryan Pease at Concrete Ocean, Brad Voss at Cuba Lakes, and Pedro Abbate at Foundation Grounds for hosting my events of the last two years- when most all the galleries in St. Louis wouldn't give me the time of day, you instead saw opportunity and decided to believe in me. We moved a lot of canvases, and I could not have done it without you.

Kevin

"Kevin" (Kevin McLane Memorial Portrait)
8 x 10", acrylic on masonite (framed)

Teardrop

"Teardrop"
24 X 30"
acrylic on canvas


“House” needed a partner for my Cuba Lakes showing in April, so I cranked out “Teardrop” in pretty short order quite recently. One of the few paintings I didn’t sell- Oh well ya know I liked it, so make yourself happy. Secretly, I'm glad to bring it back home.... The umbrella has been popping up in my work for many years, now a common symbol in the simple pictograph vocabulary that fills my work. The umbrella is “shelter” or “protection” in the language of my painting.

Fixed Heart

"Fixed Heart" 2003
aluminum, electrical cable, staples, acrylic and slver paint on cut 3/4" plywood approx. 11 x 14"


Was sorting out my Facebook page for SHAWART.COM tonight when I stumbled across this one from 2003, "Fixed Heart". A gal bought it at one of my shows in Springfield, MO at Randy Bacon back then. She had a daughter born with a heart defect, and it meant so much to her she wrote me the most sincere letter of appreciation...  it would have melted your heart. Folks say the nicest things to me occasionally- some very heartfelt reflections on what i painted. It honors me deeply, and I probably don't deserve any of it, but I felt glad it meant so much to someone.
CM Shaw
4/22/10

Uninterrupted Prosperity

Leslie entertains the crowd...


Kevin and Matt discuss my two newest works...


"Teardrop", 24 x 30" acrylic on canvas


SOLD!



The show at April 16th show at Cuba Lakes could not have been better- I sold thirteen out of the nineteen works I brought… I believe that is a record for me. My hometown of Cuba, Missouri really opened their arms as always, and that’s why I’m proud to be their son. Owner Brad Voss was on task, and the members of the club jumped in to help out with the almost unexpected throng of attendance for the dinner welcoming the touring Spyder riders, Myles Shaw and Leslie Santi’s concert, and my art show. It was standing room only. Just incredible…

My humble thanks to Brad Voss for going outside the box and rising to the occasion, everyone at The Cuba Free Press for always pumping my gigs here in St. Louis or at home, the Spyder riders for coming out for dinner and generous patronage, all my hometown folks and friends for picking up some work and backing me up every time, my lovely parents Patrick and Ramona, my brother Myles for his great performance and always being at my side, and of course my pal Leslie Santi for her beautiful music, the spark to make the whole thing happen, and always believing in me more than myself. Words cannot describe how much I need you to do what I do- you make me a better man. You made me the man I am today.

photos by Chris Case, Cuba Free Press

Show at Cuba Lakes Clubhouse, Friday April 16th

SHAWART STUDIO, ST. LOUIS, MO
MARCH 30TH, 2010
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Cuba Lakes welcomes St. Louis artist Colin Michael Shaw on Friday April 16th. An artist’s reception, free and open to the public, will be held from 8pm – 11pm. Cuba Lakes Clubhouse is located at 241 Highway O in Cuba, MO. A special acoustic musical performance by Leslie Sanazaro Santi and Myles Shaw will entertain the crowd throughout the course of the evening. The Shaw brothers and Mrs. Santi are all Cuba High School alumni.

Says Shaw: “This will not be the same as my recent showing at Concrete Ocean Gallery in St. Louis- Cuba will get their own special show with entirely different work. It will feature never before shown mixed media collages on canvas I made last summer, two new paintings made just this year, and a few other surprises. It will be a very colorful, modern grouping that I’m really excited about. Whereas the Concrete Ocean show in St. Louis was darker in nature, the Cuba show will be more innocent, more simply spoken… spirituality and love, life’s seasons- these themes run though this group of works. The recent show in St. Louis was a huge success with a lot of local buzz and press, and a lot of sales. Still, I’ve been looking forward to taking it home to Cuba, and have worked hard assembling a special show just for them. And hey, I’ve got two world-class singer/songwriters backing me up… I cannot lose!”

You can read all about the day to day of Shaw’s work at his online artist’s journal: http://shawart.blogspot.com/

Closing Reception at Concrete Ocean, April 9th

"Icarus Falls"
aluminum, acrylic and silverpaint on plywood, 9 x 12"
STILL AVAILABLE! $65.00

Friday, April 9th will be your last chance to see Jeff Sass and I with our work at Concrete Ocean Art Gallery! Come on down and take a look at all our hard work -have a celebratory drink with us!

Jess Sass and Colin Shaw
Closing Reception- Friday, April 9th
7pm to 10PM
Concrete Ocean Art Gallery
2257 South Jefferson
St. Louis, MO

Still Available...

“Shroud No.1”/”Shroud No.2” 2009
These were a real breakthrough for me: completely non-objective art focused on materials and texture, a purity I have struggled to achieve since I saw the Action/Abstraction Show at the St. Louis Art Museum in Oct. 2008 has been achieved in my mind. I have an acquaintance or two-dozen that feel like abstract art is baloney, but it’s much more complicated to create, explain, argue, appreciate, and evaluate than some people have the intellect or imagination to entertain. There is a lot that of abstract work that is poorly done, and there is a great deal that is sublime and transcendent: sorting Fine Art from the Emperor’s New Clothes is a confounding, and sometimes convoluted business.

$125.00 each *READ MORE ABOUT THEM HERE*

STILL AVAILABLE at Concrete Ocean! Pick up the phone and call Bryan Pease at Concrete Ocean: (314)497-0199
2257 S. Jefferson
St. Louis, MO
“Shroud No.1”, 2009
cut cardboard & acrylic, 16 x 20"
$125.00

“Shroud No.2”, 2009
cut cardboard & acrylic, 16 x 20"
$125.00

Still Available...

I sold nearly half my show at Concrete Ocean last Friday, but there are still a few left... NOW is your chance to pick one up. I get some criticism around town for pricing too low, but I figure that if they are selling, the price must be right:


"Doubly Blessed No.1" $65.00
8 x 10" acrylic on masonite, framed
STILL AVAILABLE at Concrete Ocean! Pick up the phone and call Bryan Pease at Concrete Ocean: (314)497-0199
2257 S. Jefferson
St. Louis, MO


"Doubly Blessed No.2" $65.00
8 x 10" acrylic, glitter, rhinestones on masonite, framed
STILL AVAILABLE at Concrete Ocean! Pick up the phone and call Bryan Pease at Concrete Ocean: (314)497-0199
2257 S. Jefferson
St. Louis, MO

Memorial Portrait

Untitled (Bride/Memorial Portrait), 2010
acrylic on canvas, 11 x 14”
CM Shaw, March 2010

Opening Night at Concrete Ocean

In spite of there being several art openings in the St. Louis this past Friday evening, my mixed media retrospective at Concrete Ocean Art Gallery with Jeff Sass was a success. At last count, I had sold seven of the twenty-one paintings- not too shabby. An intimate but enthusiastic crowd that seemed to be there for the music as much as the art warmly received my band, The Good Medicine Revival (I could hear you kids out there and you sounded great!). And to think that many of these paintings have been hidden away in boxes for years… all good things in time, I guess.



Thanks to my show partner Jeff Sass for all his hard work and beautiful art- a sweetheart. My humble thanks to all that came out to see Jeff & I- some of you all the way from my hometown of Cuba, Mo (damn!). I can’t thank my patrons enough- you allow me to keep doing this every time you take one home. Thanks to the Riverfront Times, Bill Barrett at Webster University, Stephen and Peter at Art Patrol, Stefene Russell at St. Louis Magazine, the kids at my hometown newspaper The Cuba Free Press, and everyone else who put the buzz out on the street. Thanks and love to my lovely parents Patrick and Ramona for always being there. Thanks to my band mates for tirelessly entertaining the crowd the entire evening, and putting on one hell of a show! And of course, a very special thanks to gallery owner Bryan Pease for believing in Jeff and I. I felt like it was a good night!

One of the funniest moments of the evening was having Tony Renner show up in the outfit he wore in his cut cardboard portrait I crafted last year- Hilarious! Tony is a generously humorous, deeply intelligent, and beautiful individual. I have yet to discover who bought the portrait, and Tony said he (laughs) wasn’t certain how he felt about that! Tony has been one of the most inspiring St. Louis artists I have met since my arrival in 1997. Almost completely self-taught, Tony just jumped right into art only a few short years ago, and works as hard as any local artist in realizing his vision. A suggestion he offered over drinks at Blueberry Hill on Delmar was the catalyst for my recent works on corrugated cardboard, which have been very fun and successful. As in many cities, the St. Louis art scene can be very cliquey- not all are accepted and included… but Tony was absolutely, immediately genuine...


If you missed opening night, just call Bryan or myself for a viewing appointment:

shawart.com: (314)814-0040
Concrete Ocean: (314)497-0199
2257 S. Jefferson
St. Louis, MO