Tuesday, June 29, 2010

The End is Near

Sometimes you just have to end it.  Time to move on.  I've been working on paintings in my Place series since 2006, and I've now completed 94 paintings in the series, including the 2 most recent ones pictures below. More than any other work I've done, creating the paintings in the Place series taught me what I wanted to do with my work...what I mean is they lead me down the current path that resulted in the San Juan series, and the more recent Flood series I am embarking upon.  These works have allowed me to explore directions in style I might otherwise have not approached. They have helped me understand my own interest in landscape, in structure, in, well, place and how I could use painterly techniques and drawing techniques to find interesting ways to illustrate my ideas.  And color, or what an exploration in color this series has been!  (with a few B/W exceptions).  But all good things must come to an end, and once I reach the 100th painting, the Place series will be over.

93 Place, 22 x 28, oil on canvas, 2010  On display at The Hideout starting this week.


94 Place, 28 x 34, oil on canvas, 2010. Showing at my studio during  Art Walk July 1st, 619 Western - 3rd floor, South side. 

It is a little daunting, and perhaps misguided, to publicly declare the end to a series.  In all reality, though, they are not ending.  I'm still making work, work that is a bit more illustrative, work that may surprise long-time supporters with more direct representation.  Work that will keep focus on structure and certainly maintain some of the link work present in the Place series; but I am shifting.  Trying to.  It can be scary.  I've always gotten pleasure and even some attention for these colorful paintings, and leaving them behind, well, is a bit unnerving.  But it must be done.  Granted, I'll make colorful paintings again, I'm sure.  But I hope, that after the 100th place is complete, that I can put this body to rest and push forward.

Friday, June 18, 2010

Pity, fool

Have I ever told you about the time I met Mr. T in Hawaii when I was 8?  It involved getting roped into a private party for Hollywood big wigs and other "important" people...the party had a lady in a mermaid costume, there were various soap opera stars, but I didn't care about all that, because Mr. T was there.  BA Baracus himself!  The only person I would have been more excited and frightened to meet at that point in my young life would have been Darth Vader.  My friend Derek and I were way too scared though, out mothers basically had to drag us over there to meet him.

Check out my  City Arts Blog review of the new A-Team movie to read more about it! 

Friday, June 11, 2010

Molorazzi at BLITZ - June 2010

Last night was the one-year anniversary of BLITZ! the official Capitol Hill Art Walk.  Cap Hill has been giving Pioneer Square a run for it's money with fun, innovative galleries showcasing some of Seattle's best and brightest artists, with the galleries Vermillion and Grey Gallery leading the way.  Last night was no exception, both the Cyptomenagerie show at Vermillion and the Greg Boudreau/Robert Hardgrave + highlights from other Grey Gallery artists (Emily Pothast, etc) on the mezzanine level kicked ass!  While it was a bit of a sad note as Erik Guttridge is having to give up his current location for Grey Gallery, it was still a hell of a send off and he will fine a new spot on the hill very soon.  And a great place to have the the City Arts Art Walk Awards event!  And to top that all off, we headed over to Unicorn for stunning psychedelic visuals for the PENETRATION show.

Gallery 40, parked in front of Vermillion.  I really like the battery-powered lights
Michael Alm in front of one of his sculptures
Vermillion was a packed house, once again!
Artists Shaun Kardinal and ERIN Frost in red.
work by Jody Joldersma

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

Tiger's Lament

 Trevor Johnson and I have been hard at work on a mini-golf hole for the Kirkland Arts Center Links Invitational


Read all about it on City Arts Blog



Here is the artist statement about the show:

Tiger Woods is widely recognized as the most famous athlete in the world.  He has done more to promote the game of golf and to break down racial boundaries in a very exclusive  game than any athlete before.  His stardom and success has made millions, billions for the companies he endorses and the game of golf in general.  Tiger was better than everyone, and he knew it.  Nothing could touch him.  Except, well, for the women.  Tiger's Lament explores how far one can fall when one thinks, as Tiger himself put it, that he thought he "could get away with whatever [he] wanted to" and that he  "...deserved to enjoy all the temptations...".  Tiger thinks "it's not what you achieve in life that matters, it is what you overcome."  Tiger's Lament challenges you to overcome some of the same obstacles that he has been facing over the last several months, with putter and ball in hand.

Tuesday, June 8, 2010

Teen Angst vs TEEN ANGST Molo at the movies - Kick ass and All That I Love



Last week I saw two teen angsty films with completely different takes on the ever-popular subject.  And I mean COMPLETELY different takes.  The first, the serious, dramatic, life is hard and full of Soviet repression film comes from Poland and is called All That I Love or A.T.I.L, which is also the name of the punk band that the main character fronts in high school.  Poland, Punk Rock, 1981, rebellious youth, first loves, this will be an energetic, fun, dramatic but inspiring film, right?  WRONG.  It's a bore.  The Polish landscape is made ever the more drab by washed out colors (how original - when will someone make a film set in Poland that actually makes it look like a nice place to go?) and the film was boggled down with heavy handed cinematography and slow pacing.  The best parts were the few scenes that the director actually let us hear the music and see the band play.  Could have used a lot more of that.  2 Molos I caught the film at SIFF, likely it wont get much distribution so you probably wont ever come across it...instead may I suggest:


KICK-ASS

Okay, by now you've probably seen this if you were interested, but if not, then by all means, check it out!  Kick Ass was a fun romp, and yes full of teen angst!  More so than I expected, actually, and darker, but in this case, that  made to bring a certain reality to the film, which was unexpected.  The entire story is just almost plausible, other than the 11-year-old girl just destroying bad guys with those infamous vulgar one-liners and some other shenanigans towards the end.  But otherwise it's just a movie about a geeky kid trying to win the love a girl and also daring to dream.  Sweet, romantic, and totally a bloody absurd action movie!  3.5 Molos