Watercolor Sketches

At present I am working on a series of watercolors which I am going to use as color references before I take the sketches to finish.

Art and Skill

I am going to start incorporating some airbrush work back into my paintings. I realized that nothing focusses my concentration as much as the airbrush. It involves
an amazing amount of technical skill and challenge which makes painting exciting. You real do have to have perfect hand eye coordination given the fact that the brush can spray out needle thin lines. "Freehand" is the equivilant of a ballerina going up on point. Since I'm working with imagery involving figures against a graffitti
background, I will try to render the letters with the aibrush.

OPENING

I started a completely new painting today. I am changing my approach drastically. I'm actually thinking of the paintings not so much as elaborately detailed narrative pieces, but rather as a group of abstractions. Sure, they tell
a story but they also have a certain look or similar color sensibility. They concern themselves with an urban sensibility so obviously there are more greys(concrete and pavement.) There's a certain grittiness to them as well.
The individuating ego is a common theme throughout all my work. There's
also the quality of "factor X," the unknown,the unexplainable and the "I dunno."
The first painting of 2011 is almost complete. It's entitled "Opening."

Painting Problems and Flexibility

Transportation

TRANSPORTATION:
I have started a new painting and it is entitled "Transportation." It
depicts a woman standing by her truck. Right now I don't see any meanings layered into it other than painting is a "transporting" phenomenom. It all
depends upon what direction the painting moves in.

Tower of Babel

I am working on a rather realistic painting of the Nordstrom's shoe department entitled "Tower of Babel." Actually. the painting concerns itself
with identity and shopping. Women are always seeking ways to assert their identity. Because they are the passive sex, one way to assert their individuality
is through the choice of clothing and accessories they choose to wear.
Shoes in particular have morphed from a mere way to protect feet or provide transportation into a signifier of sexuality,wealth, and desirability. The sillier and more nonfunctional the shoe, the greater the symbolic implication. This is the starting point for this painting. As of now I am working on canvas. This could
change. Most specifically, I am thinking of window installations.

On Not Painting

I haven't painted for about two months. This doesn't feel good. In fact I feel as though I am neglecting my purpose in life. What could I do though? I needed to get fulltime work so that I could have money to live. I'm trying to incorporate my painting into my work in the world.
I realize that I should not have any paintings inert in my studio. First, it defeats the entire point of painting which is to share you perspective on the world. Secondly, you can't sell a painting which is closeted away from it's potential owner.
True to my mission, I would like the paintings to be hanging in content appropriate spaces as opposed to art exclusive environments.