Yellow Trees

Yellow Trees

Oil on birch panel, 2010, 5"x 7"

sold

Todays painting is of some trees (branches really) in the neighborhood. I was thinking about abstact paintings and natural forms and I thought I would try a cheap version of a "Jackson Pollock type" abstract expressionist painting but using real, natural forms. Now let me be clear, I'm not kidding myself thinking I can compare this 5 x 7 inch painting to one of the greatest painters of the 20th century. I'm just saying my first impression of staring up into some tree branches and cropping it just so, you could make an abstract painting, one reminiscent of Pollocks style. Anyway, I was playing around a little with color too, trying to make the sky and leaves vibrate a bit, using complimentary colors. Sometimes I feel like a DJ, because I felt I should show something today that was a little calmer and more reflective than the craziness of the past few days, you know, bring the crowd down a little with a mellow jam. I hope you like it.

#27

Skateboarder

Skateboarder

Oil on birch panel, 2010, 5"x 7"x 4"

sold

Todays painting is another 3-D construction, this is the kind of thing I do most of the time I suppose. I try to pull elements of a picture out and animate them then reincorporate them back into the painting. So this guy is forever animated in the air, extending what for me would be a thrill, I guess half a thrill really, part of it is landing safely so you can do it again. With him pulled out of the picture, I think its easier to imagine the guy landing and then rolling out of the picture to get a burger somewhere with his buddies. Why its important to imagine him eating a burger, I don't know.

The skateboarding craze really took off in southern California in the mid seventies when there was a long drought and people had to leave their pools empty to conserve water. This is taken from a photo of Lance Mountain.

#26

Tony Alva - Chinese food

Ya so, I'm not a professional photographer, who coulda guessed? It took me 5 photos from yesterdays post and I still don't think I got it right. So I shot a quick video to show how the take out container is constucted. Please forgive the soundtrack, although it IS very appropriate for the subject matter. Ctm (chuckling to myself). Apparently I don't know how to focus either.

Tony Alva

Tony Alva

Oil on Chinese food take out container, 2010, 8"x 9.5"x 4.5"

sold

Todays painting is another that I've done on Chinese food take out containers, I started doing them a few years ago, after laboring in my studio on a cardboard dodecahedron, I came inside for lunch and finished off some leftovers. When I started unfolding the container to recycle it, I realized it was almost a readymade version of what I just spent a couple hours trying to fold together. The image is of skateboard pioneer Tony Alva, one of my heroes from childhood. A friend had a subscription to Skateboarder magazine (which later became Thrasher) and we would stare and dream of the cool stuff for sale and the incredible pictures by photographer Glen E. Friedman (who not only was there, at the start of the skateboarding craze of the mid-seventies but also at the beginings of the Los Angeles hardcore punk scene). I, of course became a skate punk, as soon as I understood what that was, but could never quite get the actual skateboarding part of it.

The skater is cut out from the bottom closing flap of the container, it is just folded up and stapled. The hanger is the metal handle from the container.

#25

New York Central

New York Central

Oil on birch panel, 2010, 5"x 7"

sold

Todays painting comes after a few days off. Trains, I like, model trains, real trains. I think it goes back to childhood and the early male psyche. When my son was born it was trucks first, then a years long fascination with trains, he was just attracted to it. We didn't really do any thing to encourage it at first, then we fed his appetite for it, I was pretty gung ho after awhile with the train part of my brain waking up after a long slumber. There is a spot in Cleveland Ohio where you can stand in between the rapid transit tracks and the freight tracks and when trains are on both rails and passing by on either side of you at a pretty fast clip its really an intense experience.

#24

Red Trees

Red Trees

Oil onbirch panel, 2010, 5"x 7"

sold

Todays painting is of a group of trees on my block. I walk the dog usually around sunset and these trees always light up, and I love them.

#23

Waters Edge

Waters Edge

Oil on birch panel, 2010, 5"x 7"

Ok, painting water is really hard, but fun. The problem is, its completly abstract and yet entirely recognizable. It is an insane jumble of color on top of a reflective form, but it all makes sense. I can't really paint abstractly, I think I'm too self concious, but this is pretty close. This is the first painting in a series that I'm going to do where nature makes its own abstract painting.

#22