It's nice to have a moment to sit down and write about what's been happening in the studio lately. There's been some over-whelming work going down in this one-man arsenal of mine.
I've had the pleasure to get to work with the band Old 97's over the last few months, designing and hand screen printing gig posters for their last three tours. Printing tour posters is something I've been wanting to do for a while now, being the rabid music fan that I am. It's nice to finally get my foot in the door of that arena, and I hope to be able to do more in the future. Actually, I'm printing another poster this week for the Ian Moore Band, a stellar blues band from Austin, TX. Will blog more about that later.
While I've had the pleasure of screen printing posters I'm also working on a few other screen printing projects to add some weight to the future of the studio. I've started the process of stock-piling paintings, prints and other neat art ephemera, so when it comes time to open the studio/boutique/gallery I'll be ready. Yes...I'm definitely working on establishing my own brick-and-mortar studio boutique, something I feel very strongly about. More on that later, too.
Over the weekend I debuted some new paintings during the "No Trespassing" group exhibit at The Cameron Gallery, most of which were executed at the last minute (but don't tell anyone.) Actually, I think I do some of my best work last minute. It's one of those instinctual things that happen well for me. A handful of my paintings were tributes to artist Ray Johnson, my favorite artist who used the Lucky Strike logo in his work, pre-dating pop art. For some reason, his name just kept popping up in my head, so I included him in the work. Turned out fun. Additionally, I experimented with doing some art on the back side of the canvas, as well, something I've never really heard any other artist do. It's kind of like a fortune cookie, in a way; the message tucked away on the inside of the cookie. In this case, there is something hidden behind the painting.
I painted two of these 12" x 16" tributes on canvas, both having their own thing screen printed on the back. I've decided to make this my regular 'signature' to my work from now on. I think it'll pique curiosities about what lies behind my canvases. I want to make the back side of the painting just as interesting as the front, so that you'll have to physically remove the painting from the wall or frame to see the 'hidden message'.
The opening was a moderate success, I think, as there were many people to come out to see the group exhibit. I hope there will be more patrons come through the gallery this summer to see what is on display, perhaps make a few art sales, too.
There are a few other things to talk about, but I'll save those for other blog posts this week. I realize yours and my attention spans may be severely shot as we just try to get through the brutal summer heat, so I'll wrap this post up...
Time to relax for a few days, get my messy studio back in order, and look forward to some new and continuing projects. Have a great week, everyone!
