Pictured above are the finished panels that were shown at Norton's Fine Art in the Smaller Is Better Show on Nov. 22nd. There was a warm and lovely crowd in the gallery on that drizzly evening, and everyone really enjoyed the fellowship of local art enthusiasts, the artists, and their work. The show runs through January 10th, so get by and have a look!
Above, Untitled (In Our Hearts) framed and displayed at Norton's Fine Art
I have three figurative pieces in the 2014 Holiday Show "Smaller Is Better" at Norton's Fine Art on Nov. 22nd. I was surprised to win the Bruce Zuckerman Memorial Award last year, and had a nice time enjoying the other artists' work. Please join us from 5:00 to 8:00 P.M. for the opening reception! Full of small, affordable pieces of a wide variety of art, this group show may be your chance to find that special something for the holidays that no one else will be giving...
ABOVE: Finishing up Untitled, 2014 for the Smaller Is Better Show
After a year of work, my brother and I are finishing up the album we're making with our nephew HBH. Pictured above is the concept art for the said recording, M'Uncle. It likely won't have the boy's initials, as he made his desire to differentiate his collaborative work from his solo work clear. I like that. In the spare time Myles and I worked with HBH on the forthcoming record, he recorded two lengthy albums on his own, and is finishing up a third acoustic album he wants me to produce cover art for. He is alarmingly prolific. As the M'Uncle project was taking shape, I'd put together a video of for the first song, The Needle, back in January. Another fun pop number on the album that I wanted to produce a video for was Shark Bait...
I realized I'd come to a natural close recently with my summer abstract photo project that really began back in February with Spectre, an accidental capture while mishandling my new camera. This group evolved from a folder of similarly captured moments, eventually also involving staged shots- these are based on reality, distorted by motion, with very little digital manipulation in most cases. A bed comforter pattern, a toy on my desk, a food package, or any other number of objects at arms length- they're all there. I may have turned them upside down or adjusted the color temperature or contrast, but they exist somewhere in space-time.
I am fascinated by the relativity theories about these temporal/spatial dimensions, astrophysics, molecular science, and am reminded of the like subjects in the distortion of these images manipulated by movement in space during that singular moment. What dimension does that "event" exist in now, and how is that defined? Did I define it by attribution, by association? Thoughts like that drive some people crazy and they may be trivial to daily existence, which is probably why I like to think about them. Sure, the mathematics of string theory look like Chinese to me, but I have a big imagination that requires regular exercise. There is also a spiritual, and sometimes spectral feel to many of the images- another subject of I enjoy pondering. I'm unsure what it all means, but will probably spend the rest of my life trying to understand- like the rest of you I hope...
I can't say enough good things about my years of working with Bryan Pease at Concrete Ocean, from my inclusion in his group showings, to my two-man shows with fellow artists Jeff Sass and Dale Wilke. Bryan is a tireless defender and promoter of the working class St. Louis artist, and extremely talented artist in his own right. Please come celebrate with us all this Friday:
Concrete Ocean 5th Year Anniversary Exhibit Friday, Oct. 10th 7-11 P.M. 2257/2259 S. Jefferson Ave @ Shenandoah St. Louis, MO
Another shot of the moon waxing Gibbous wandering around the neighborhood in early June. I didn't catch the Supermoon this past weekend, but according to NASA, the August 10th appearance should be even better, and if that doesn't work out there's always the Sept 9th appearance.
Recently completing the project management for presentation of photographer Jack Curran's exhibit at the Missouri Botanical Garden, I found myself inspired to visit the St. Louis landmark and document it myself. Jack's large format black & white images are far beyond my skill level and tools, but photography distracts me more and more as time goes by, and I get a lot of compliments on them. My parents took my siblings and I to the Garden during many summers of my youth, and though I can't recall the last time I'd been, it was like returning to those days upon my arrival. See the video I produced from some of the 500 + shots I took on Sunday morning at my ShawArt Films channel...
More shots from my moonlight adventure in late April, these featuring more of the street lights as the full moon rose over the neighborhood. It's a supernatural thing to behold, and I can see why man has been mystified by it as long as we've looked in the night sky, assigning mythology and science fiction to this heavenly body circling our world. Imagine it's power, majesty, and mystery prior to our earliest understanding of astronomy. These photos were mostly dark and pretty blurry, and would normally be discarded by even myself, but began to take on an interesting character as I played with them in my photo editor- like that of a pastel drawing. The moon almost becomes a character in the scene, lurking out from behind the tree line and lighting up the sky....
A couple more shots from my evening of experimentation photographing the moon, featuring that floating orb from my April post. Yes it's only the result of my inexperience in leaving the shutter open to long, and my primitive editing techniques left a lot of digital noise and artifact that a professional would find undesirable, but the results were fun! The blue sphere above the moon looks like some distant planet, adding an otherworldly feel to the scene that appeals to my sense of imagination...
As with the last photo I posted, there was little in the way of post-production technique applied to this photo. I could buy better software and try to be a little more serious with my photography, but I enjoy the spontaneity of my lo-fi approach. I may or may not be a step up from Instagram, and worse am socially arcane in that I still do not own a smartphone. My twelve year-old niece has one. But I don't care- never let societal norms dictate your vision. Be an an individual and think for yourself.
I missed the recent "blood moon" event, but did take a few dozen bad photos one evening shortly thereafter, experimenting with my new point and shoot- the Panasonic ZS20. There were some happy accidents while leaving my shutter open too long however, and though I've no aspirations to be a great photographer, I do love to play. The photo above turned out interesting, floating orbs circling the overexposed moon, from light reflections through the lens of course. The blue sphere at the top looks like some distant planet, giving the scene a far-out science fiction vibe!
I've kept very busy working on recording more of my nephew's new songs, writing & preparing to record an album with my brother, taking a lot of photos, and occasionally painting. My career requires a great deal of time as well, and my band is preparing for an upcoming show, but I like to explore many things at once. It's often been said that to be truly great at something, one must focus only on that. And while I may never be truly great at anything, I don't subscribe to the aforementioned philosophy- variety is the spice of life.
.jpg)
.jpg){kind=spacer}
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg){kind=spacer}
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
+(768x1024).jpg)
.jpg){kind=spacer}
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
