11/29 - paint on my keyboard

Sad about what's going on with my rental but today I feel like I can make a little headway in getting ready for my show at the new Thuro skate/gallery location in Brookline. Gabe, the owner is a really great guy who asked me to be a part of his opening months ago but he just secured a location so this  a little last minute but oh well. I keep my word.

A few years ago there was no way i'd hanging my work in a skate shop/gallery. Being an artist on Cape Cod I thought I learned to conform my opinions of things based on the norm and fine art galleries are perceived to be the only tru measure of an artist - since moving off Cape, I've begun to realize #1 the audience for my work is young, #2 young upstart artsist don't show in galleries necessarily and #3 being given the opportunity to show in space like Gabe's and have someone like Gabe see my work as valueable enough to be included in his world is a gift. Plus, I love being included and, once again, I've been lucky enough to fall in with another group of guys who are INclusive and not EXclusive. So inlclusive in fact that he's allowed me to bring some New Bedford guys along to be included in the opening show!

So today I'm gonna:

• Walk Bugsy
• Come back to the Cave, clean up a bit
• Get back to producing work for Gabe's Dec. 10th opening of Thuro. Pics will be posted asap.

And I'm gonna put the slumlord problems to the side for now...howveer, I wish the lights worked inthis place. It's hard to see.

To visit Gabe, his shop, gallery and potential studio space go to:  

Thuro 362 Boylston St, Brookline.

11/18 Gettin' ready

For a while I didn't think things were gonna gain traction but now things are starting....like a hefty old train. Luckily, sometimes anyway, I have a pretty good feel for what may be coming and I'm good at orgainzing things so I'm prepared - I know that's cryptic and makes no sense...

Regardless, I have about 3 weeks to get ready for my next show (yikes) and about  6 weeks to figure out where I want to move to and find a new place to live, sort thru the rest of my stuff, move my paintings to storage, sell my fridge, closests and anything else I don't need, get my drawing table and then clean up whatever mess I've made in the Cave. That should keep me busy.

What will I use for inspiration? http://youtu.be/IFpmIB1btj0 ......that's what.
Oh and http://youtu.be/SkkIwO_X4i4 .... cannot get this outta my head.

Note: don't forget to cancel cable and gym membership.

11/17 Occupy Life!

Okay, so I haven't posted much this past week or so - there's a lot going on and nothing I can really talk about but suffice it to say: things are moving forward now....slowly but moving forward.

• We have a date for the reception in Brooklyn: April 6th
• We have a date for the Boston show: Dec. 9th-ish
• The book has been getting circulated around two different foster agencies in 2 different states.
• I'm almost done producing big paintings for Brooklyn and will be moving on to making smaller works
• I've sent out brochures to several new (to me) galleries in New york
• I've sorted thru and reorganized my stuff, moved what's left to a smaller storage unit
• And am almost ready to make a decision about where to move to next

I can't believe how quickly this year has gone by but I feel I've done the best I could've done with what I can control - I've torn thru my to do lists and archived varying levels of success.  I think my only real failure has been not losing any weight - and I've kinda given up trying for right now, deciding instead to focus my will on other projects. My great success however, has been not letting anyone or any thing influence me enough to stop working at my goals. I've kept my focus and I didn't veer. I also didn't start drinking or drugging again which was a huge achievement for me under the circumstances - I think out of my years on earth so far, when I look back, this is the one I will be most proud of. I did it, I changed my life.

My hope is that in the next 6 weeks, by the end of the year: I'll be moving to a new city, have at least 3 more spring shows lined up in NY and Boston, a deal in the works for the book(s), and an income I can depend on. I've also gotta start working on next years to do list.....phew, what a time this has been.

11/15 - ANNOUNCEMENT!

We scheduled my first NY show today! 

Thanks to Maxine, event coordinator at ReBar,

and

CAM owner of ReInspire Brooklyn

the show will be hung in

the Walkway of ReBar

http://rebarnyc.com/

Brooklyn's hottest eatery/cinema/bar/gallery throughout April 2012 but

opening reception is set for Friday April 6th.

Yay!

I'm VERY grateful to Maxine, CAM and the kind, supportive folks at ReBar for giving me my first big break.....this is what I've been working for.  :  )

11/14 - for no particular reason

The old broad painting sans Braveheart at 7 am-ish

11/14 Monday - Neurrigabe gogo dut

Been absent from things for a bit do to pain but I was able to tackle a canavs that's been confounding me for MONTHS.  It came to me as pasrt of a collab project with my friend John Boucher - he loves to cover his canvas' with a teal colour which is what got me - teal with purple swipes. I've stared at it looking for a pattern or puzzle I could do womething with but it just baffled me till I added my ususal base - flat black. After the black was applied the project was a breeze.

Black on teal laytex

Chalk sketch, aerosol and heavy acrylic from the tube

Oils, more chalk, oil pastel, more aerosol

And fini! .....for now.

"Ek het ongebreidelde entoesiasme wat nie verlore gaan, maak nie saak wat jy doen vir my" (Afrikaan)

In English: "I have unbridled enthusiasm that cannot be lost in you no matter what you do to me"

11/11/11 Friday

I think today is supposed to be some sort of magical day because of the numbers. We shall see...

Regardless, I haven't posted in a bit, nothing to say really. Things are still in a holding pattern: shows aren't firmed up yet, the book is on hold till I can get my drawing table delivered, I've been cleaning out my storage unit but my spine has gone a tad haywire and so I have to stop till I can walk and bend properly, the roof to the Cave still isn't repaired which leaves my landlord in complete violation of court order, he could be arrested if I so chose to pursue. Not horrid news (for me anyway) just a series of events or lack of events that leave my plans stilted which, as a  consequence, leaves me jammed up and anxious and the severity of the RSD pain prevents me from sleeping more than a couple of hours at a time.

My plan for today was to take everything that's left from the first storage unit and put it in a smaller one (a much smaller one) but with my spine acting up I just can't.
Plan B: Walk Bugs in the woods - again, spine interruptus.
Plan C: switch out paintings at Muse - ditto.
Plan D: go to AS220 and silk screen designs - see above.
Plan E: workout - having a hard time putting my socks on.
Plan #345: lay down in front of fast moving bus or eat a cupcake.

Maybe  I'll do some more mail outs to galleries, reps and publishers instead. I hate my plans being jammed up like this.

11/08

Not feeling quite right today. I feel jammed up and anxious and have a terrible foreboding feeling. Have work to do and have my to do list to get thru but we shall see.

First step - just get thru the morning.

11/07 What's up smock?

So for the past few days I've been cleaning house - cleaning out my storage unit, the Cave and my my truck of crap. Years and years and years of crap. Since my truck got broken into, and the thugs stole something that was incredibly valuable to me, I've been on  a mission to just purge myself of stuff. However, depending on the time of day and my mood, it all matters in a way but I know I don't want to carry all this stuff around with me forever. It gets very weighty.

Purging is liberating, depressing, exciting and really hard. Some of this stuff defines who I am but it also defines who I was which is far less fun. Some of the stuff brings back horrible feelings, some of it is hard to get rid of because I feel a certain loyalty to the spirit of it and the time it came from. I think, just having those thoughts, technically makes me a hoarder on some level which is why whenever I have a strong feeling one way or another towards an object I toss it. There's a reason for the strong attachment(s) to the stuff but I'm trying to keep in mind - it's just stuff and no thing should hold that much importance in my life...except for my work.

That said, even though I've gone thru about 4 dozen boxes of stuff so far I still have a lot of stuff. It's annoying. How can one person have so much stuff? It's not keeping me safe or helping me in anyway. It's costly, demanding, exhausting and just dumb. But then again, it feels so good when I make it go away. I may not want the relief I get when I purge to end for a while. Okay that sounded bizarre.

Saturday 11/05 - Another one, in steps - not finished yet

Black prep, chalk, aerosols

Thick black acrylic right from the tube, more aerosol, Ttanium white Gamblin oil

This painting is about econmoy of paint and showing respect to negative space. The swathes of blank canvas help to give color more impact, give the viewer visual directions and convey a quiet, underlying rhythm and tension.

A tiny bit of color.

To view more work go to: becklane.com/

11/01 - "Waiting"

Finished "Waiting" last night. The work is part of a show I have coming up in 2012 at the ReBar's Walk Way gallery in Brooklyn. Exact date TBA. For more info go to ReInspire Brooklyn at http://www.reinspirebrooklyn.com/

Start 10/14/11 - black prep, chalk  and aerosols.

An hour after initial set up later

Work resumed for a bit on 10/24

...and again on 10/30

But si! Fini!!! 10/31/11

The lighting in my studio is just terrible so please be patient.
Regardless, the panels are not meant to sit close together but instead they're meant to be approx 4" apart OR in completely different rooms...I'd LOVE to see them split apart and displayed in seperate rooms. The eyes are a bit off kilter because I wanted them to be off putting. The panels were painted seperately and not togther as one unit.

"Waiting"

To view more work by Beck go to: becklane.com/