Cartooning around!

So, as you can see, I have been cartooning around a little bit lately. Thought I would share them with you to see what you think. Please try not to think too hard though, I know I didn't!

Illustration Friday: Open

Hello Everybody. Well here this weeks word for Illustration Friday; "Open". It is a reflection of the things to come! This week though is a little different in that they are holding an exhibition call for entries that will feature the top 25 pieces in a show in California starting in November. To go and vote for my piece, click on this link.

Why the bear has a stubby tail!

Here is a little illustration that I did for an extra portfolio piece. Hope you like!

A bit of good news

As you can see by the picture above, one of the things I have been busy doing is getting some illustrations done. This one is of two different illustrations that I am currently working on and will have done by Thursday. The reason that I have two of them going is because of the dry time that each layer of color requires for this technique. When I am waiting for the one to dry, I can simple work on the other and vice versa. It seems to work well and I will be doing three other illustrations after these two. In other news, I was delighted to receive a nice letter in the mail yesterday. It was from the coordinator of the US Bank show in St. Cloud saying that I received second place in the paintings category. It was really a nice surprise and I was also happy to see the comment cards that the judges used when looking over all of the submissions. It's not too often that you get to see what the judges wrote down about your piece in the juried shows. So, with the upcoming meeting with Janet at the end of the week and this new news, it has been a good week so far. Hopefully it will continue into the next week or two as well!

MNSCBWI Fall conference

Image copyright Derek Anderson

With the start of the week and a time in which many things need to get done, it was a very nice email that I received today that was a bright spot. It indicated that I was awarded the opportunity to have a portfolio review with Janet DeCarlo who is a pretty well known member of the children's book market and is also one of the guest speakers at this weekends Minnesota Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators conference. I know I have mentioned this before, but it is really a new venue for myself and the first of the conferences that I have decided to go to. Usually it is the money that has set them to the side in the past, but I realized that I needed to attend functions of this nature to meet people, get news about the industry and also expand my knowledge of the market itself. With this new mindset, I am really hoping to start dedicating more time and effort into getting myself known in the market of children's books. Another reason that I am looking forward to attending this conference is that Twin Cities illustrator Derek Anderson of the "Little Quack" Series is going to be there as a guest speaker as well. So, it will be a busy, sleepless week as I prepare to create the best work for Janet to view, and one that will end on a whole new foot!

Illustration Friday: "The Blues"

This is a piece I did a few months ago for a blues poster competition. It is a digital illustration.

Getting some needed things done

Well I wish I could be posting a new painting or illustration for your viewing but I have been busy the last few nights with paperwork and a visit to a children's book Illustration class. The class itself was one that was at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design and was a blast to visit with them and talk to them about being an illustrator after college. They had alot of great questions and it was refreshing to be back in the classroom and knowing that I wasn't going to be getting an assignment when I left! The other portion of the time has been creating some proposals for some book projects and getting my portfolio prepared for the fall Minnesota Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators conference. It should be alot of fun and very good to talk with more people in the industry and listen to some amazing guest lecturers.

Since I don't have a new piece of art to show you, I will show you a pic of the book that I am currently reading. It is a fascinating book about the artists that were creating work around 1900 and the huge change in process and styles thereafter. It is from Abrams publishing and is titled "1900 Art at the Crossroads"

So with that I will keep plugging away at my pile of paperwork and have promised myself that I will get back into the studio tomorrow some more.

Illustration Friday: "Juggle"

"Juggling" finale?

So many roads, so many trains to ride!

As I am staring at my studio space here and listening to some blues music, a song came on and just struck a cord. That song was "So many roads, So many trains to ride!" I have been contemplating all night which one of my areas of art was needing to be worked on first. I know that I have a number of paintings that are needing to get done by this November, but also realize that I need to revamp my children's illustration portfolio for a conference that is coming up in three weeks. And then, I was realizing that my paperwork was starting to get out of hand as well. The good thing is that some of my promotional material had come in with my business cards, a small postcard and an oversized postcard of my painting titled "Superstition Mountain". I had been needing to get some new postcards out there to hand out that had my new information on there and have decided to only have my cell phone number instead of address so that I can use them even if I move. People can still get my full address on the web, so I think this will work out even better. Out of the two postcards, I definitely think that the oversized one looks the best cause it can show the detail of the painting more. But as with everything, bigger means more expensive. Well worth the investment though. I am already thinking I might order some more to have on hand. So with all that thought and no work, I will be off to work on my painting tonight. Maybe tomorrow I will get to the illustration work.

Fun with color

As you can see by the post tonight, I was having some more fun with a limited palette. After my board meeting this evening I had a few minutes and thought I would do a quick study of some houses I have been meaning to get on canvas. This is a little oil painting on a 9 x 12 canvas. I have a larger version of these that I have yet to finish, partly because I haven't decided on the final color scheme yet. So this is tonights work and will probably try another way tomorrow. We will see what I think of it in the morning. In a way I almost like the stark color of the houses against the muted sky.

Illustration Friday: "Wedding"

A little walk on the wild side! Thought I would try a different look and feel to it as well with the mix of digital and scanned texture.

Pushing the paint

Friday is near and I am anxious to spend some more time in the studio pushing paint around. As I am looking at the calendar I am seeing alot of opoortunities for exhibiting and such with the fine art. The only problem is that I need more paintings to display, so I will be in production mode the next couple of months and am really enjoying the thought of getting back into the paintings a little more. Tonight I was playing around with the oils and came up with this little 9 x 12 piece. Rough I know but it was good to get the smell of oil paints in the air. Ohh, and a new Illustration Friday topic comes out tomorrow, so it will be interesting to see what the next image is going to be! You'll have to come back soon to check it out.

Exhibits and showings

Well, I thought I better get some information out there before everything has come and gone. This month and next will be a busy one with class visits and some fun events at US Bank, The Minneapolis Institute of Arts, and The Richeson School of Art and Gallery. The first event is a show that is happening at the downtown St. Cloud Us Bank Building where a juried competition is going to open tomorrow and run thru Oct. 18th. I was fortunate to get a piece in and look forward to seeing the other pieces as well. Then starting Sept. 19th at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, a piece of mine will be hanging for 10 days before the big Art Perchance benefit on Sept. 28 for the Friends of the Institute. It will be a fun evening of games and "spirits" and should be another great showing of art and hopefully raise alot of money for the museum. Last but not least is the Richeson 75: Landscape Juried show that will be opening up Oct. 27 at the Richeson Art Gallery where I had a piece excepted into. So to say the least, it will be a busy upcoming month and a half and am looking forward to having some fun at the openings.

Illustration Friday - Momentum

With the change in temps and labor day over, how can you not think about what's to come!

The signs are complete

So the last two nights of work has been focused around some signs that I was asked to do for a Benefit of the Children's Defense Fund. The challenge was to create out of chalk the logo and image of the benefit on a children's little play easel. One of the first things I noticed was that the surface was a very smooth and non gripping surface that really made it hard to allow the chalk pastel to grab. It just "fell" off most of the time. Over a little bit of time though it seemed to finally hang in there and think the final pieces turned out pretty well for only having two evenings worth of time on them. Its too bad though that after the event they will be wiped away and be as if they never were even there. Guess it is for the moment and the night. Now lets hope that I can get the easels to the event tomorrow afternoon without smudging the image!

Getting into Beale Street again

Detail of Beale Street painting

I can't tell you how great it was last night to dig into the Beale Street painting again. After a few weeks away from the oil painting, I was back at it and looking forward to hopfully finishing this painting by middle of next week. We will see how it actually goes though. I also will be working on some entry pieces of art for a benefit for the Children's Defense Fund of Minnesota. So other than that, it will be a busy couple of days here and am looking forward to the upcoming weekend to get some other tasks done as well.

The end of a great week and weekend

One of the things over the last week that I have come to miss is the artwork that was being done in the studio before this week long odyssey of concerts and time at the lake. Don't get me wrong, I had a blast and it was a much needed break. But it felt good to get back home tonight and will feel even better tomorrow when I get into the studio to slap some paint around! If you read in the previous posts, I had a few concerts that were unbelievable. It all started on Tuesday night with Robert Randolph and the Family Band opening up for the Allman Brothers at the Minnesota State Fair. With this concert I was very impressed not only with the performance that Robert gave in the opening act but the guitar work that was done in the Allman Brothers show. I was really blown away! But that was nothing compared to the lineup that a number of friends and I saw on Thursday night at the fair. It was headlined by Etta James, Al Green and BB King. If there was ever a concert that was to die for, it was this one. It lasted for over four hours and left everyone in a state of hapiness. It is amazing that the fair people were able to put together such a lineup for a single concert. Below you will find a picture of my friends Micah on the left, Jun in the middle, with yours truly on the right. I will definitely be remembering that concert for a long time.



After the concerts it was out to the lake in central Minnesota to celebrate my parents 30th anniversary. We had a small gathering of relatives and had a great time with grilling out, playing games outside and then enjoying the lake. One of the games ended up with my cousins shoes, another cousin himself, a volleyball, and a football up in a tree after they got stuck all at the same time, don't ask how they got up there!! So with that, we left the lake this afternoon and came back to a more normal setting and a studio that desperately needs some attention. I can't believe that the summer has come and gone so fast. Seeing the fields plowed on the way back definitely solidified that thought. But with that comes a great time in fall and all that comes with the changing of the season. I look forward to trying to capture some of that in the near future. Have a great night and will be back again soon.

BB King and Etta James...

After a number of weeks of anticipation, a concert that I have been waiting for is here. Tomorrow night I will be off to the Minnesota State Fair to go to the BB King, Etta James and Al Green concert. I will be there with seven other friends and probably won't get any sleep til Saturday! But what better reason to stay up late than to listen to some of the legends that are BB and Etta.
You probably have noticed the lack of postings this week, the main reason for that is I am finally getting through some of the address's and new contacts at some of the publishing houses and am looking to do a promotional mailing in the next month. It is really exciting stuff I know, but it needs to be done and find that there is no better time to do it than when you are busy already. That way, hopefully it will keep things that way. But, it makes for some not so fun posting when I don't have new paintings or illustrations to post. Instead, I will attach three photos of my patio plants that are starting to block my view of the back yard. I also noticed the other day that one of my elephant ears was putting out a flower which is the first time that I have had that happen. I don't know if it is the short growing season that doesn't provide flowers, but since I have had these the last 3 or 4 years, this is the first plant to pop one out. Hopefully it won't be the last.
So with that, I wish all of you the best Labor Day weekend. I will be off to the lake come Friday so I won't be posting again until I come back on Monday night. It should be a good time as it is my Mother and Fathers 30th anniversary this weekend. It will be a crazy fun time with all the family coming to visit.

Illustration Friday - Visitors

Here is my rendition of the word Visitors for the Illustration Friday call for entries. It is inspired by my Uncle and Cousins recent canoe and camping trip to the Boundary Waters here in Minnesota. Hope you enjoy!

Start of another school year.

As the last few months have seemed to just blow by, I have come to realize that summer is fleeting away with the start of another school year. Even though I am no longer in classes, I will be at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design bright and early tomorrow morning to welcome the new students. It is one of the many events that the Board of Directors puts on throughout the year and that I have been fortunate to be apart of. I have found that with this orientation and the also the international student barbeque that one of our Board members has at his house, it really gives the students as well as us a chance to get to know everyone on a very personal scale. As a student, coming to a campus that has only 700 total students throughout the college, it can be a very individual experience rather than a public university that has 5000 incoming freshman alone. As an alum, I know what they are going through and will have a blast getting to know where everyone is coming from and what they are hoping to study during their four years here. I am sure there will be lots of questions from everyone. So with that, I am looking forward to working tomorrow on my next Illustration Friday topic and will hopefully be posting tomorrow night.

A little bit of drawing

As the rain has been falling the last few days (or close to a week), I have found myself taking advantage of getting some of the mundane things done that an artists needs to do. From filing paperwork to finding out which paints I am running out of, it has been a productive stretch that has also been very relaxing. Sometimes it is a little difficult to find a few minutes with such a busy schedule, but really enjoy these down times. I have also been able to sit and think about some of my own work that I want to do that doesn't relate to a show or a client which is a nice change of pace as well. Of those, I have really come to enjoy a little area that I drive by every day and decided to do a quick study of the space. It really has a nice mix of twigs, rocks, and such to create a great textured painting in the near future. Until then, this study will have to suffice and keep my attention. Maybe this weekend I will get into a full size painting if the time permits.

Illustration Friday - Captain

Well here is my Illustration Friday rendering of the word Captain. As you can see I am taking a children's book approach to this one. Hope you like!

A break of sorts

Having worked night and day the last two weeks on a huge illustration project, i can finally say it is in the hands of the client and I am in the process of straigtening out the studio for the next one. As I work on more and more of these, it is amazing how fast the time goes and when you look back it is almost a blur. I have found that the steady work has done wonders for the process in that everything seems to flow faster, from the sketches to the finished illustrations. I guess when you know what needs to be done and you just go for it you naturally find quicker ways to do the same work. Or maybe, I am just taking less time thinking about it and going thru and doing it. I don't know, but I like it. Hopefully I can take the energy that I am currently on and transfer it to the other work that is looking at me now.

Another thing that I have been aware of lately is documentation of my work. As more and more artwork is getting produced and sent out, I have found that it gets difficult sometimes to properly document something before it leaves. Fortunately, I have a great scanner and digital camera that can always be used to keep up to date, but then there is the backup of the digital archives and such that seem to get lost sometimes (or backlogged). In any case, I am excited that thru the course of this summer, things have been on a nice steady pace and one that leads me to think that a day job may not be needed in the not so distant future. One can always hope that art alone will be the source of all I may need, but that is just my thoughts now that things are a little happier. The better time I suppose to ask these questions is when it is slow and the same bills come due!

In other news not related to my ramblings, I have followed thru on a few juried art show entries that I have been meaning to get out. With any luck, I hope to hear back from those in the next month. So, off to clean up the rest of my studio and then start back in on the paintings tomorrow. Ohh, by the way, the image above is a charcoal piece that I did a couple of years ago of Buddy Guy. I have been listening all night to some blues music and thought it would be fitting to throw up an image that was of the same subject matter.

Illustration Friday: Emergency

Well Friday is here and there is another topic from Illustration Friday. This weeks word is "Emergency". With creating this image I wanted to illustrate what would be after an emergency rather than the emergency itself. It is colored ink on a linoleum block with pen and ink. Hope you like!

A peek into 2008

As I near the middle of August and in the midst of a large project, it is sometimes hard to think too far into the future. But the past few days have reminded me that I must think ahead to keep things rolling. If I keep tabs only on the now, then it will be an awfully slow rest of the year and next. The good thing though is that I have been keeping an eye on what's upcoming and next year is already starting to turn into a good one. With another exhibition scheduled now in Sept. 2008 at the Owatonna Art Center, that gets two exhibitions up and running with the other one being in June at Homewood Studios. There are some other opportunities with showing work that are in the process of coming to light, but will have to wait a little while to officially get it out there. Another great opportunity that is going to be happening is a workshop that I will be teaching over at the Richeson School of Art in Wisconsin that will be focused around Illustration in October of next year. So, with those three events already scheduled, it looks as though 2008 is starting to look pretty interesting. I just hope I can keep things coming in from here until there!

On another note, Cynthia Guajardo has a great post about some much needed paperwork for artists on her blog. I would definitely recommend checking out her post to get the paperwork that will make keeping track of all your work so much easier.

With that, have a great rest of the week and will be back in a few days with another Illustration Friday entry!

Drawing in the park

Update: Thought I would include this picture from one our first classes in July. I just got it in this afternoon and is courtesy of the Minneapolis Institute of Arts.

One of the great events that I have been able to be a part of this summer is the Drawing in the Parks at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts. When asked if I would like to teach the class, I knew right away that this was going to be a blast and didn't want to miss it. So, starting on July 8th, we held open classes in the Fair Oaks Park in the front of the museum from 1-4 on Sundays. The best part of these classes was it was a free drop-in drawing class with all of the materials provided. It doesn't get any better than a free class with free materials.

Over the last five weeks, it has been amazing to see all of the people that have come by claiming the ability to draw stick figures and end up with a great drawing. Of course, some of the most exciting works have been by the children that stop by. It is really fun to see how engaged the students (no matter what age) become in the process of drawing nature. Another surprising stat so far is the number of people that come back week after week to continue on their piece or try their next challenge. With that, we had almost 60 people out there drawing yesterday and am looking forward to the family day they are holding this coming weekend with a 100-150 possibly expected. I hope that if any of you, or anyone you know, would like to come by, it would be great to see you out there. We are looking for the next three weeks to be as fruitful and fun as the last five. For more information on the class at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, just click on their name and you can get directions from there. And remember, it is absolutely FREE!!!!!

Illustration Friday - Missing

Hello everyone. Well the weekend is here and I have a bunch of illustrations to get done. I am really looking forward to getting to some of the final illustrations on a project that I have been working on all week. To kick off that work, I am posting a quick illustration I did for the Illustration Friday. Illustration Friday is a place where illustrators get a new topic each Friday to illustrate and come up with their own version of that topic. Since I don't have alot of free time at the moment, I am keeping mine pretty loose in nature, but fun at the same time. This weeks topic is "Missing". I am sure this one is a hard one to figure out. Anyways, hope everyone is off to a great start on your own weekend and will be back with some more thoughts soon.

Thoughts and prayers

Not very often will I stray from the usual rantings and mentions of my art, but tonights events here in Minneapolis warrant it. As most of you probably have seen over the news stations tonight, the main interstate bridge crossing over the Mississippi river collapsed tonight. As a bridge that I have used on an everyday basis for years, it was so surreal to look at the television and know that i was just there a day ago. What else can I say other than my thoughts and prayers go out to all the families and people involved.

Let the work begin....

Happy Monday to everyone. I hope all has been well lately. Things here in Otsego have been going pretty good lately with lots of illustration work coming in the last few days. Its great having work come in, but will be pretty swamped the next couple of weeks with sketching, faxing, finalizing and finishing the illustrations for three different projects. I find it quite strange how things tend to go in streaks with a dry period and then a rush, dry period and then a rush. Wouldn't it be nice if things were on more of a steady pace? The good thing so far is that all of the dry spells seem to be getting smaller in length and the busy spells are naturally getting longer. As long as it continues that way, I can't complain at all.

Another fun activity that has been happening lately is the classes that I am teaching in the park across from the Minneapolis Institute of Arts. It has been received well by the public and there have been numerous people that have come back week after week to keep trying their hand at drawing. Hopefully I will be able to post some pics of the fun that we are having, but have to get the museums and the patrons permission first. We will see how that works out! Until then, I will leave you with this image of an illustration that I did for the book titled "On the Other Side of the Ocean" by Ruth Elisabeth Schoch. As I was going through some images recently for the Children's Book Illustrators new website that is being produced, I ran across this image and thought how great would it be to be outside in this heat and just be playing around in the water again as a child. I still remember those days of running through the sprinkler and all. Just think what the neighbors would think if I did the same today!!! What a sight it would be!

A chance find

One of the great things that I have really enjoyed about the blogging world in the brief 6 months that I have been here is the people you just happen to come across. This past week, I had one of those chance findings when I came across an artist by the name of Tracy Helgeson. When I came upon her site from somewhere I don't quite remember, I was struck by how beautiful her landscapes were and the use of color that were in them. To my surprise, I saw today that she had mentioned my blog on her site and also her time she had spent at MCAD. As a fellow MCAD alum, it is always fun to see how other artists' experiences of art school were and where they have gone from there. I would definitely recomment you guys visiting her site and checking out her work. It is a real treat that is a nice way to end the week.
As for the piece above, it is a painting that I had almost forgotten about until I ran into the person who bought it a number of years ago. To reconnect with her was alot of fun and to see how happy she still was to have it in her house was a nice compliment. Often when a piece leaves the studio, you never get to know what happened to it over time. But with this week, it seems that the past is coming back in more ways that one! Hope everyone has a great weekend and will be back in the next couple of days!

The start of my Etsy shop

Well, after much debate and thought, I have decided to start the Studio McCann Etsy Shop. It will be a marketplace to pick up such items of mine as prints, signed books and original artwork. I know at first things will be a little slim in the pickings, but rest assured that I will be adding more pieces on there in the upcoming days and weeks. I guess I have to start somewhere, right? The reason for my doing this is the success that I have been seeing from such fellow bloggers as Janet Nelson and Cynthia's Colorado Art Studio. So with that I will be getting some photos ready to put up on my site and start selling!

In other news, I will be attending a panel meeting this Thursday for the City of Minneapolis's Arts commission to watch the process unfold for the Call for Artists. They will be reviewing all of the proposals that were submitted for the Hiawatha Maintenance Facility Public Art request. It looks as thought there were 21 applicants and we are sandwiched in the middle of the meeting. It will be fun to see how a panel discusses and chooses the finalists for a project such as this. Hopefully, come Friday or Monday, I will be able to post that we were chosen, fingers crossed! If nothing else comes of it other than watching, it will definitely prepare Mike and I for the upcoming projects that we apply for.

Help!

As most of you know by now, I often will work in a variety of styles and media. This time however, I am reaching out to you guys to help me find a solution to a project that I am working on. The project consists of finding some sort of media that can be used on concrete walkway that will give the effects of a pastel painting and would stand up to the elements here in Minnesota. That includes everything from; foot traffic, rain, snow, snow blowers, salt and all other fun elemental properties. I recently just came across a polymer outdoor paint called FolkArt Outdoor, but am curious if anyone has found a product themselves or has worked with anything. I have a photo that I have attached here to give you an idea of the space. It is the front of a great restaurant that needs to have the same great looking feeling as it does inside. Any help would be greatly appreciated!!!!

The application is in...

As I had mentioned in a previous post a while back, Mike McCann and I have been working on an application for a public arts commission in Minneapolis for the Hiawatha Maintenance Facility. I can officially say that we submitted our first public arts entry and are relieved that the initial process is over. One thing that I have learned is that there is alot of information and details that have to go into a public arts proposal application. From the preparation of images to be viewed on a large screen to the narrative that has to be less than 2 pages in length, yet tell them how you would be the best artistic team to use $135,000. How can one convince a panel and a group of reviewers in 2 pages or less the entire scope and ideology behind what and how you want to do something. It was worth it though. The process gave Mike and I the opportunity to review our individual artistic accomplishments up to this point and also the start of more collaborative opportunities to come. If any of you get the chance to go thru this process yourselves, I would definitely recommend it. Make sure though that you start plenty early and don't get caught up in the overwhelming paperwork that must be in place. To that, I hope that Mike and I were successful in what we submitted and anxiously await to hear what the reviewing committees have to say with the selection of the finalists.

ArtWatch 2007

Another great event has come and gone. I can't tell you how much fun I have had over the last 4 days at ArtWatch. Being able to work around so many other artists and friends was truly a treat. Especially with fellow bloggers Janet Nelson and Terry Howell Stanley. The artist who was on my left side was a nice surprise as well with fellow MIA employee Mike Judy. And to make things better, my parents came in from North Dakota to check out the gala event last night as well! Overall the atmosphere was one of intense creativity and lots of exciting and varied styles of art. The piece that I tackled for the event was a image of the Minnesota State Fair. I wanted a piece that would keep me occupied and challenged throughout and was very pleased with the effort for only having worked on it for 8 hours. I had a little more time than that, but it was to easy to wander around and check out the other great art being worked on. So with Artwatch done now, today I am off to teach the drawing class today at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts. It should be a good time with beautiful weather and all. Have a great rest of Sunday and hope you guys enjoy the following pics.

This was the space we were given over the course of ArtWatch. It was a little tight for space, but fun to work with so many creative people.

Here's Janet Working hard on her Fish images


And here is the Final piece. It is a 32" x 40" acrylic painting of the Minnesota State Fair. I really like the energy and excitement that the composition had and found it to be a challenge to get done in the short amount of time given. Overall though, I am please with the effort and look forward to next years event!

Off to Art Watch at White Bear Art Center

Well, the time has come to go off to Art Watch at the White Bear Art Center. Tomorrow is the checkin and setup of the studio spaces and Thursday and Friday will be the actually making of the art to be auctioned off on Saturday. It is going to be a blast and am really looking forward to seeing the other artists that I haven't seen in a while. I will definitely be posting some good pics come the end of the week from all of the activities. If any of you are in or around White Bear Lake, make sure you stop by and say hi for a little while.

As for the image below. It is of Superstition Mountain that I painted a few months ago as it looks in its new frame. I just picked it up from the shop this afternoon and am really liking the texture of the frame and how it plays with the texture throughout the painting. But I will only get to enjoy it for a couple of days and then it will be off to Richeson Art Gallery over by Green Bay in Wisconsin.

Beale Street cont.

Managed to get a little more work done on Beale street. Most of the time the last couple of days has been spent on getting the application materials ready for a huge public arts commission here in Minneapolis. Hopefully tomorrow will get a little more painting in.

Beale Street and outdoor drawing

So Saturday is here and the heat outside has been a great enticement to stay inside and work in the comforts of the studio. After spending the morning cleaning things up, I was finally able to see some of my work space again. I took advantage of that newly found space to fill it up with more crap that was sitting on the floor. The good thing is I still have a few areas that I could work at if I needed it. As for the Beale Street painting, I starting sketching it out, and am liking the direction it is going. I have another one that I will be sketching out tomorrow morning, but for now, it will be getting things straightened out on this one.



In other news, tomorrow I start a drawing class that I will be teaching for the next 8 weeks at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts. It is going to be so fun to have a drop in drawing class that will allow people of all ages and abilities the opportunity to try their hand at landscape drawing. The reason for this class is to coincide with the show Mirror of Nature: Nordic Landscape Painting 1840-1910 going on in the museum. I definitely recommend anyone who loves landscape paintings to check out these beautiful pieces.

Also, this week is the start ofArt Watch at the White Bear Art Center in White Bear Lake, Minnesota. There will be about 40 schooled artists setting up temporary studios to work while the public is invited to watch or visit with the artists. It should be another great time and am really looking forward to seeing alot of friends that I haven't seen in a while. Stay tuned for a complete schedule of times and places to be to come and check it out for yourself!

Getting some paintings started

As most of you know, I am a person who loves the blues. When I recently found out that my sister and her fiance were headed to Memphis for a month, you can imagine how jealous I was. But then I realized that I now had a photographer in my sister to get some new content for some paintings. I know it isn't the same as being there myself, but by painting the images that capture my imagination from her, I can feel like I am there already! So with a large number of photos to look thru, I have come across some that really feel like some of my other work that I had done with Uptown here in Minneapolis and the New York paintings.

Book wise, lately I have been really fascinated by a book that I came across titled "The Unknown Monet: Pastels and Drawings". To get a view into a masters mind before he completed some of his most famous paintings has been a real treat. For me, the process is sometimes more fascinating that the actual completed work. Here is a crayon and scratchwork on Gillot paper entitled "Windmill at Zaandem, 1883". Hope you enjoy and am anxious to start showing you some progress on the paintings of Memphis that I am working on.

PS. I am happy to say that after a short six months with my blog up and running, I have made it over 5000 page views. I know it isn't much, but it is a good start and am anxious to see the progress after a year!

HAPPY 4TH OF JULY!!!

Happy 4th of July to everyone. I hope you have had a great day and are getting to enjoy the fireworks that are going on tonight. Things here have been great with a pool party at my cousins and a really kickin' barbeque as well. Now tomorrow will be back to business as usual!