Barcelona

While in Barcelona, for three glorious weeks, I drew over 300 flowers. They are appropriately called Barcelona Flowers. I was influenced, of course, by Gaudi, the artist/architect who is responsible for many beautiful buildings in Barcelona. Even the sidewalk tiles were designed by him. I wanted to draw more than just flowers during my stay there but after a page of them, I couldn't stop. And I drew them everywhere, the park, the beach, at the Miro Museum. I was lucky enough to be a stone's thrown away from 4 Cats, a cafe where Picasso had his very first exhibition. I've shared the Barcelona Flowers with many of my friends. I still have a few of them but I like the idea of them dispersing into the world. I hope to visit Barcelona again and maybe next time, I'll get to stay longer and perhaps make hundreds more of these flowers.

recent work

Top panel - 'Did You Find What You Were After', acrylic and ink on canvas, 12 canvases each at 12" X 12", 2007, $4500
Second and Third panel - individual canvases from Top panel. - each piece is $400
Fourth Panel - two canvases side by side - each piece is $400

Micaela Gallery Opening - April 11th

The show at Micaela Gallery will end on May 18th. Micaela will be keeping the red piece ('Where Do We Go From Here') for a few months so if you miss seeing the exhibit, that piece will be there for you to see. The opening was a success. It was a nice reunion of friends from Art Center (Christian Alzmann and Samuel Leshnick) as well as meeting new people and exhibiting with wonderful artists.


Rico Reyes (curator and my art angel), me, Christian Alzmann and his wife, Andrea.

Rico Reyes has been the curator for the past four shows I've been in. I can't thank him enough for believing in me and my work.

The last time I saw Christian and Andrea, I was helping them pack up their moving van nine years ago. They were headed to San Francisco where Christian was starting his amazing career at ILM (Industrial Light and Magic, George Lucas' studio). I don't care if I embarrass him by telling you this, but when we were in school, he couldn't stop talking about Star Wars. Lo and Behold, he is now an Art Director at ILM after years of moving up the ladder starting off as a production assistant (i.e. making photocopies). Needless to say, I am very proud of him. His wife, Andrea is also in the creative field as a budding photographer.

BELOW ARE THE THREE PAINTINGS EXHIBITED IN THE SHOW


'Tread Softly Because You Tread on My Dreams', 4.5"X11", acrylic and ink on wood, 2006 SOLD


'Did You Find What You Were After', 20"X30", acrylic and ink on wood, 2008, $2000


'Where Do We Go From Here', 36"X54", acrylic and ink on canvas, 2007, $3000

Wheeeeeeee!!!!!

Puma Rose reaching for the stars on our trampoline.

How you doin'?

I was asked recently about what the purpose of my art is. It was an interesting and intriguing question. It's sort of like having to define art, or life for that matter. What is art? Marcel Duchamp, a Dadaist/Surrealist, took a urinal and exhibited it and titled it 'Fountain'. His main purpose, I suppose, was to address that question. And there was Magritte, who did a painting of a pipe with a caption underneath saying 'C'est n'est pas une pipe' [This is not a pipe].

I can't really fully define what the purpose of my art is. I just paint. It's my life. I question myself everyday, wondering what I'm doing and if all this is worth it. Well, the latter can be easily answered. Yes, it's worth it. I just came back from San Francisco and Los Angeles. I sold a painting in San Francisco. It was pretty exciting to see a red dot next to the sold painting. And in Los Angeles, I saw some amazing art (Swoon, Kara Walker, etc.) and I was able to visit my alma mater, Art Center. I happened to be there during their grad show and I was blown away by the presentations. So, the purpose of my art, just like the purpose of life, is one and the same. It's about survival - it's the ability to just keep doin'.

ART EXHIBIT IN SAN FRANCISCO

Wow, this year is flying. I spent the past two months working on the mural in the Upper East Side for the design office of JUST TERRACES. Pictures of the mural will be posted soon. It was an amazing experience to work on it. I completed it at the end of March, and immediately, I went straight into completing a painting for the art exhibit in San Francisco. This is happiness. Really. As sappy and corny as that may sound, it really is. I'm thankful and humbled by continuing to live my dream. If you're in San Francisco on April 11th, please join me for the opening. Details are posted below.

By the way, the image below is one of my paintings that will be exhibited in the show. It's the frontside of the postcard specifically for the SF show. Ironically enough, I just got postcards printed with the same image as my handouts. Just thought I'd share that funny bit of coincidence. It's an honor to have my painting chosen for the postcard.

Please tell your friends about this show. It'll be up until May 18th.