On the Drawing Board: Dress You Up

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I'm all for letting it all hang out, but it's also nice to be all buttoned up! While there are different challenges between painting the clothed and unclothed, usually the biggest one is deciding on the outfit, picking the style and colors.  For myself, I just like what I like, and am not up on the current fashion rules (are skinny ties in?  are vests frowned upon? where are we regarding socks?). So for paintings, I'll gauge what's on TV and the internet, and try to opt for something that seems classic and not trendy. 

Moxy Hart 1975-2016

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Saddened by the news today of the passing of a sweet and funny friend and talented artist.  MoxyHart.com

I first 'met' Moxy some years ago when he emailed me about art. At the time he seemed to be looking for a little advice regarding artistic direction.  He was very sweet and shared that he too liked painting the male figure.  He asked about my experience with the subject matter and was debating which way he wanted to take his art career. He seemed at a bit of a crossroads and didn't know if male nudes was the path to take. What I recall telling him was, "you just need to do what YOU want to do and your audience will find you. Do what you're passionate about and what is genuine to you and people will recognize that and appreciate it."  

I've always found his male figurative work striking, it overflows with purity, softness and warmth.  It's no wonder he attracted so many fans and was celebrated in the Capolavoro book of today's leading artists of the male nude. 

While I never got to meet Moxy in person (me being in the states and him in South Africa) it wasn't hard to see, through his emails and social media, that he was a kind soul with a wicked sense of humor.  

From his Facebook Page:

Dear Friends
Moxy's passing has been a tremendous shock to all of us. It was all very sudden and we have been dealing with it as best as we can. We understand that all of you naturally have questions about what happened to him. Moxy had had very high blood pressure for quite some time and his general health was not great. In the early hours of Sunday 24th January, Moxy suffered a massive heart attack. His passing was quick and we are grateful that he did not suffer a long illness.
Our focus at this point is to find a special way to celebrate Moxy's life and be grateful for the beauty and laughter that he brought to all of ours. We would like to invite you to share your messages and memories of our great friend here on his Facebook page over the next few days. Any special pictures or stories about him would be gratefully received. We want to show and tell our Moxy how many lives he touched and how his art and humour brightened the world. Thank you to all of you who have sent condolences and kindness. Even if you only knew Moxy through Facebook, we know that he appreciated the time and energy that you shared with him.
Blessings.

On the Drawing Board: Fingers & Faces

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I've got the second face pretty much done.  I don't like to say finished, because until the whole piece is finished everything is open to getting tweaked, touched up, reworked, you name it.   Let's just say they are at a point where I'm ready to move on to the next elements.

 I included my fingers at work in the pic just to give an idea of scale.  Even though I use pastel pencils for fine lines, almost everything, including those lines, gets at least one swipe/blend of a finger.

Do you need talent to make art? Or does calling anything 'art' make you talented?

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For two millennia, great artists set the standard for beauty. Now those standards are gone. Modern art is a competition between the ugly and the twisted; the most shocking wins. What happened? How did the beautiful come to be reviled and bad taste come to be celebrated?

I mostly agree with the speaker, Robert Florczak. I especially like the figure skating analogy. Art is a talent, some display of talent is required. Simply declaring something art is not a talent, nor is having a name and reputation a talent. If we compare visual art to audible art (music) we see that we demand music adhere to standards and requires talent. We don't record the sound of a bulldozer and accept it as music because some one says so or because a Stevie Wonder or an Adele recorded it. And by accepting a pile of poo as art, does it not diminish and insult people with talent, a talent they often spent thousands of hours studying and perfecting?

Double Whammy from the US Postal Service

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I was aware of the upcoming price increase for shipping packages, which will reportedly come to about a 9.4% increase across the board.  Now I've just found out that they will also be eliminating the discount for creating and printing your own labels online, which I do (but I guess I won't bother anymore). So for us online shippers we're losing the discount and getting a rate increase all at once!

I will evaluate the new shipping costs and try to keep the fee as reasonable as possible. Today will be the last day for the current shipping rate. 

New Double Release: Looking & Looking Back

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As the song says, "Just one look, that's all it took." 

My new works are two individual paintings that also work as a single scene when hung together, a diptych if you will.  The scene zeros in on that moment when you get caught looking, when eyes meet and you just 'know'.  I think that's much more exciting than today's tech society method of scrolling through pics on an app and asking 'you looking?'

Get 10% off the regular price during the official Debut Week.
For originals info and purchasing go here: Looking (left side) and Looking Back (right side)

Looking
from $45.00
Looking Back
from $45.00

"Hung" in great company

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An art patron sent me pics of one of my originals he owns, "Hung" (upper left).  I love seeing where my 'kids' end up finding homes.  I'm honored to be part of this gorgeous collection he has, and to be hung next to one of Tom Jones works (lower left).  Tom was very influential in my journey of turning my art hobby into a full time career.