Hatcher

        Over time things become clearer; whether in hindsight we romanticize the past, or see more clearly with the heat of the moment subdued, looking back tells us how far we've come. For me it's easy to see my influences as an artist, and educator. Throughout grade school, high school, college, and beyond, I've had a few tremendous teachers, educators and artists in the truest sense. They gave me the confidence I lacked otherwise to assert myself through visual communication. Some lessons were harder learned than others, but all of them are clear in my mind because they came at the hands of people I respected, whose opinions I valued, whose frank words continue to sink deep into my conscience. They respected me enough to lend their care and I find myself reminded daily to pay forward what I can in my own practice as an artist and educator.
        This year I was invited again to participate in the 10x10 show at Coconino Center for the Arts. I agreed, and set about creating two pieces to donate. Due to a framing mishap, the pieces were unusable when the time came to submit to the show. So as not to fail in my commitment, I set my hands to work for several hours on a new piece. I thought about my greatest influence, my high school Art teacher, Mr. Smith. Those who know me well, know my admiration for him. His presence in my life was well timed and continues to form me from the inside out. As I worked on the piece I remembered his home in Phoenix, its white paint and green trim, his front yard planted thick with cactus and native trees, a shaded desert paradise attuned to its climate, not fighting it. I imagined it under monsoon skies and could smell the creosote alive in the surrounding hills. I thought about the conversations we've had in his backyard studio, a menagerie of toys, figures, and projects alive with his distinctive style and reverence for life. I remembered the childhood drawings he reworked into hauntingly expressive, yet simple, figures. All of these things mixed with my feelings about myself, my future, and my own visual language and culminated in a deceptively simple piece.
        As is wont to happen, I fell in love with it. I spent a long while staring into it; that's how I know a piece is finished. I wondered if I could let it go. I told myself that this was only a study for a larger piece on the same theme, and I delivered it to the Center the next day. At the opening reception I was excited to see that the piece hadn't sold; it might still be mine to enjoy a bit longer. However, on a subsequent visit, I found the little red dot on the nameplate, it was sold.
        Now, just as I tell my students, the artist's intent is largely unknown and a work must stand on its own. I can't follow the piece around, forever explaining it to everyone who sees it, nor would I want to; it's theirs to experience on their terms, in their context. Nevertheless, it's always a challenge to let a piece go knowing that a part of me goes with it and yet remains anonymous amidst the perception of the viewer. Even now it bothers me that most of you reading this will only see this piece as a jpeg on your mobile device. Still, I wanted to share it with you, and memorialize the experience in a tangible way.
        I know I can't duplicate the work, but I can continue to allow the past to reach forward into the future and remind me of who I am and why. In deepest gratitude, I'll continue to create these love letters to my teachers, to our memories, to our hope.

Hatcher, Mixed Media on Panel, 10x10"

Visage

        This piece titled "Visage" is the first I've made by transferring my printed digital collage to a surface other than paper. The process involves coating the surface in gesso and laying the color print face down on the wet gesso. Once the gesso dries you wet the paper and rub it off revealing the image now permanently mirrored in the dry gesso. I donated this piece to a raffle at FALA's PLATE event this weekend. You can see the original digital collage in the previous post.

"Visage" Mixed Media, 5.5 X 6.5"

More Digital Collage

Coming Back

In Tow

Erect

Cigar Box Retablo

My first attempt at a cigar box retablo is inspired by the work of Art Smith, specifically his "Spirit Boxes", some of which can be seen here. I made it to donate to FALA's Chairs for Change silent auction. Titled "Ex Cathedra #1", it's a story/poem illuminated by vintage photos and plastic toys. The text inside reads:

Uncle Tim spent countless

bourbon-soaked afternoons

staring into the past

Front

Inside Left

Inside Right

Back

Opened Facing

Digital Collage, continued

Siren 2

Wade Out

Over the Wall

Push

Winter Break 2015-16

I've enjoyed working with collage since high school, but don't often give myself the time to sit down and create. The two-week winter holiday from teaching has afforded me the opportunity to make these. Each consists of three or more layers of images gleaned from the Creative Commons and composed in Photoshop.

Gravity

Fatherhood

Again

Futures Past

Leaving Home

Siren

Summer 2015

Here's a small sample of what I've been working on this summer.

Self Portrait with Mirror,
mixed media on panel, 10x12" framed

Umbra, mixed media on panel, 10x12" framed,
(collection of Julie Williams)

Orange, mixed media on panel, 14x16" framed

Why Can't You Just be Yourself?,
mixed media on canvas, 16x20"

Piscean, mixed media on canvas, 20x24"

10 x 10

This year I was invited to participate in the 10 x 10 exhibition at the Coconino Center for the Arts. One of the pieces I donated was sold on opening night. It is an honor to show beside so many exceptional local artists. Deepest gratitude to the Center for the invitation and exposure.

"Before This", 10 x 10", mixed media on panel

"Fathers", 10 x 10", mixed media on panel (sold)

New "Figures"

Here are my most recent mixed media works. I've incorporated some more deliberate representation than usual. I see them as figures, my children call them trees; really it's up to you, the viewer, to decide for yourself how you regard them.

22x15"

30x22"

Works on Paper (continued)

Here is another group of mixed media works on 12x12" paper.

On Place and Memory

     Here is the chair I modified for the Chairs for Change auction and benefit for girls' education by FALA, hosted by Coconino Center for the Arts. I was honored to be asked to participate.

     I bought a chair at a local thrift shop and sanded it down. I drew on paper grocery bags with a graphite stick, and coated the paper with decoupage medium. I then tore the paper and decoupaged it to the chair. After the chair was completely covered, I applied a final coat of acrylic matte medium. It took approximately 20 hours labor to complete.

     The title of the piece is On Place and Memory and it incorporates my drawing style with the chair symbol that I am currently exploring in my photography.

Recent Works on Paper

Recent Works on Canvas

Untitled (Black Diptych)  

Untitled (Blue)

Untitled (Green)

Untitled (Maroon)

Untitled (Purple)

Untitled (Black Drawing)

Untitled (Large Yellow)

Untitled (Small Yellow)