Pretense II Opening Today

Everything is ready for the opening tonight.  The paintings are installed, and the show looks great!  It is Cinco de Mayo, and a full moon is rising, the biggest moon of the year.  The work can be seen on my website: www.artaskew.com.   

PRETENSE II

The opening of my show PRETENSE II is only two weeks away.  I have tons to do.  I need to paint the edges of my canvases, wire the paintings, print gallery labels, recheck prices, pick up new business cards, pick up banner, design a handout, design something with the name of the show and my name, and print out the my artist statement which is really an explanation of the show.  Hope I don't encounter any head winds!

Pictured in the poster is House of Cards, which is 48"x48".

False Face

Originally, this painting was part of a diptych with the other half being a head (see "Portrait with Mask, June 15, 2011 post). However, I felt the head was more of a portrait, and one that overpowered the image of the mask, which had a validity of its own.

I beefed up the color and changed the proportions a bit, and like the way it came out. It measures 24" x 18", and is acrylic on canvas.

Balancing Act Again

Got my images back from the photographer and so I am posting "Balancing Act" once again. This idea went through a few incarnations until I achieved what I wanted. I love orate stages with the velvet curtains and highly decorated backdrops, and the idea that this would be one very small stage.

Heartfelt

I am putting this painting in Archway Gallery's April Exhibition in Houston. It is acrylic on canvas, and measures 40x30 inches. I have put a brown band along it's border to delineate the edge of the painting. The figure actually floats on the white surface of the canvas. The work will be up April 7-May 3rd. Because of the Easter holiday, the reception will be Saturday April 14th, 5-8PM.

Clown Face

This clown painting will be in my art exhibition called Pretense II. The show opens on May 5th at the Archway Gallery in Houston, Texas, and we will celebrate Cinco de Mayo along with my art. So if you feel like a margarita and a circus atmosphere, come join us.

"Clown Face" measures 24" x 18" and is acrylic on stretched canvas.

Balancing Act

The image above is a detail of a painting called "Balancing Act." I will post the entire painting after I get it professionally photographed, as the colors shifted a bit. The painting is 20" x 16", and is Acrylic on canvas.

This painting is another in my series of paintings for my show Pretense II which is opening on May 5th at Archway Gallery in Houston, Texas.

I enjoy putting animals in preposterous circus acts and showing their personal nature as they accomplish their task. The Anole Lizard is rather magical in the way it changes colors, and has always been my favorite. They are all over Houston, and sometimes make their way into your house during particularly bad weather. Last summer, Beatrice lived under my entertainment center, evading the deadly attention of Lola the cat. I gave her water bottle tops full of water, and tried to find her insects, but the record-breaking drought had made my backyard a wasteland. She survived to make it outside once the rains began again.

This wonderful lizard has eyes nearly identical to our own. If you encounter one, it will tilt its head and study you. It's body is sleek, and it's lines are elegant, so it seemed the perfect candidate for a balancing act. From afar, the painting looks like a seal is doing the balancing. But it is a colorful lizard, indeed.

A Moment in the Sun

I took a break from my circus series and revisited an image that I had done a sepia drawing of several years ago. This is called:"A Moment in the Sun" and is acrylic on canvas, measuring 36" x 60". I changed things up a bit, and replaced two of the figures. There is something about how the figures are arranged, the way the light hits their faces and bodies that intrigues me. This is from an old family photo from the late 1940's, an era where cameras were at waist level which gave the people in the photo an epic quality. Images had to be brightly lit, so everyone stared bravely into the sun until eyes watered. It took a few seconds to regain one's vision.

I love that suspended moment in photography where everything halts, and a scene is fabricated by the participants that may not have anything to do with what has gone on previously. It is a one second drama, frozen in time.