The Cycle

The image above is a plate from William Blake's poem The Fly which was published in Songs of Experience in 1794.

I recently deleted a blog of mine that I hadn't updated in months. It was never really a blog anyway, it was more of an online presence for the faux finishes and murals that I occasionally do. What a toxic and class driven craft that is.

I think of Blake's poem as I begin a new blog with Richard T. Scott.

Little Fly,
Thy summer’s play
My thoughtless hand
Has brushed away.

Am not I
A fly like thee?
Or art not thou
A man like me?

For I dance,
And drink, and sing,
Till some blind hand
Shall brush my wing.

If thought is life
And strength and breath,
And the want
Of thought is death;

Then am I
A happy fly.
If I live,
Or if I die.

Our new blog is called Sustainable Art.
Please visit, we could use some help.

Bad photographs of new ink

Ridge
Walnut ink on paper
18" x 24"

Relationships
Walnut ink on paper
24" x 18"

Reincarnate
Walnut ink on paper
24" x 18"

Nirvana
Walnut ink on paper
18" x 24"

Mutt
Walnut ink on paper
18" x 24"

I just killed a blog

R.I.P.
The Fourth Wall. Blogspot.com
May a Flickr set serve you better.

My first two posts

Friday, October 28, 2005

A Modern Movement

circa 1996

These three images are from my Modern Movement series.
Note the very real and pure abstract minimalism adopted by "the masses" to decorate their garage doors. The subjects offered balance. I collected all these images (24 in all) into a small booklet that I gave out to about 30 people. I wish the web was an option then. I also collaged several into the liner notes of Love Battery's record Confusion Au Go Go.

Jumpin' off the Bridge

Seedtime or (and) Harvest

1996

Just testin' things out with a painting from the collection of Kim and Kevin Whitworth (Days later I discovered, with the help of Kevin, that they actually own Where Your Treasure Is which can be found at the November 3 posting "My Mistake")

Also:
A serendipitous exchange with Chris Ashley posted at his site today (Oct. 28th)

____________________________________

Isn't it funny how some things never change? I am beginning my third year of blogging and those garage door drawings are still being used! I did them on a Mac while living rent free on the shores of Lake Sammamish. I was also courting Stacy at the time. Ten years later, we are married, with a 7 year old daughter, and the Modern Movement drawings will be featured on a 2008 calendar available from the Kristi Engle Gallery this month.

Also, my very first link was to Chris Ashley who is one of the essay writers for the catalog that Kristi is also making available this month. Here is a teaser:

"It has been fascinating to follow the ups and downs and back and forth from my ringside seat. Having watched LaRose’s (heroic) struggle with the many paths his work took until he wrangled them into a more focused, though certainly not myopic, direction, I think of how he has entwined several components into a combination that is integrated and strong. Three components in this recent work I want to discuss are subject matter (the otherworldly), material (the properties of colored liquid), and viewer experience (the sublime)."

Another essay will be by Chris Rywalt (teaser):

"To prepare for writing this essay I sat down and read through everything Steven LaRose wrote for his Website over the last two years. This is a fantastic way to get your brain to leak out your ears. It is also a fantastic way to see Steve and his art as the two of them wander across the landscape of artmaking."

The third essay is from Bill Gusky (teaser):

" In these works I see haunted abstract landscapes in turmoil, buildings toppling over, threatening hydra-like beasts exploding in the sky, swarms of multi-legged sea creatures alternately spawning and attacking one another, bizarre animal courtship and rubbery hundred-eyed creatures yurbling from another dimension, among other things. Maybe that says more about me than it does about Steve, but then again, maybe not. "

Are you ready for another year?

A Flower I Found

"check out the cluster that contains Sourashtran and Yadhava (both Indian populations) and the Tajik/Samarkhand or Arab/Bukhara populations."

Art For The Masses 2007, Number 5

I would like to dedicate these tiny drawings to Charlie Finch (if that is your real name).
Pretty Lady responds.
Joanne Mattera responds.
Bill Gusky doesn't respond.
Brent Burket yawns.

Dark Batik

Emeraude Gold

Imperial Palace

Lavender Bouquet

Light Topaz

Pacific Ocean

Viola Phlox

White Pebble

Picton Points Some More

Read about Matthew Picton in the November 2007 issue of Art Ltd. - West Coast Art + Design. I think he's on the cover too! Also, don't miss seeing the exhibition of his city sculptures at Portland's Pulliam Deffenbaugh Gallery until the end of day on Saturday, October 27th. In the previous post I called The Blogger Show people my "posse" and yet I have never even seen the whites of any of their their 72 eyes. I have seen however, Matthew Picton's blood shot soul windows. I've written about our exchanges before. But check this out, in order to facilitate the transportation of my paintings to Los Angeles next month, Matthew is going to GIVE me their van (for a week) and even chip in for the "petrol" (he's from the UK remember). How incredibly generous is that? So long Alamo, Enterprise, and Hertz. Nice try Gorilla Smashing Shipping Co. I'm driving the 12 hours to Los Angeles by myself with a free van full of drawings and paintings. All I've got to do is deliver one of Matthew's new pieces to the Solway Jones Gallery for him. Deal.

Blogger Show(s)

092407a
Acrylic on wood panel
20 x 16"

The painting above is currently being tracked by The United Parcel Service shipping bar-code magic and will eventually arrive in New York to be exhibited in the Agni Gallery tendril of the Blogger Show, November 3- 30, 2007 - Public Reception: November 3, 6 - 9pm

Check out my posse:

Nancy Baker (Raleigh, NC) - Tire Shop
Martin Bromirski – (Richmond VA) Anaba
Sharon Butler (Mystic, CT) – Two Coats of Paint
Lisa Call (Parker, CO) - New Work and Inspiration
F. Lennox Campello (Washington DC) Mid Atlantic Art News
Rose Clancy (Pittsburgh, PA) – paperWorks
Kevin Clancy (Boston MA and Pittsburgh PA) - soft soft pink pulls through the ivory void
Susan Constanse (Pittsburgh, PA) - Oranje
Warren Craghead - drawer
Mark Creegan (Jacksonville Florida) - JaxCal.org
Christiane D (Pittsburgh PA) - Christiane D
Roberta Fallon (Philadelphia PA) Fallon and Rosof’s Artblog
Ann Gordon (Detroit MI) - Detroitarts
Cable Griffith (Seattle WA) - Cable Griffith
David Grim (Pittsburgh, PA) - Serendipity
Bill Gusky (Canton, CT) - Artblog Comments
Tracy Helgeson - Works by Tracy Helgeson
Stephanie Lee Jackson (Brooklyn NY) - Pretty Lady
JT Kirkland (Washington, D.C.) - Thinking About Art
Mary Klein (Minneapolis, MN) - stillifes
Eva Lake (Portland, OR) -Eva Lake
Steven LaRose - (Ashland OR) Steven LaRose
Michael Lease (Richmond VA) - Annabelle’s Aspirin
Joanne Mattera (New York NY) Joanne Mattera Art Blog
Rob Matthews (Philadelphia PA) - Matthews The Younger
Jean McClung (Pittsburgh PA) Urban Bytes
John Morris (Pittsburgh, PA) - Digging Pittsburgh Arts
Loren Munk (Brooklyn NY) - James Kalm
Elizabeth Perry (Pittsburgh, PA) - Woolgathering
David Pohl (Pittsburgh, PA) - find the time to rhyme
Libby Rosof (Philadelphia PA) Fallon and Rosof’s Artblog
Chris Rywalt - (Wood Ridge NJ) NYC Art
Marc Snyder (Pittsburgh, PA) - Fiji Island Mermaid Press

Agni Gallery
170 East 2nd Street, Storefront #3
New York, NY 10009

060207 (Gorgon)
Acrylic on wood panel
48 x 32"

The painting above will be hanging with stuff by:
Martin Bromirski – (Richmond VA) Anaba
Sharon Butler (Mystic, CT) – Two Coats of Paint
Lisa Call (Parker, CO) - New Work and Inspiration
Rose Clancy (Pittsburgh, PA) – paperWorks
Kevin Clancy (Boston MA and Pittsburgh PA) - soft soft pink pulls through the ivory void
Warren Craghead - drawer
Ann Gordon (Detroit MI) - Detroitarts
Roberta Fallon (Philadelphia PA) Fallon and Rosof
Cable Griffith (Seattle WA) - Cable Griffith
Tracy Helgeson - Works by Tracy Helgeson
Stephanie Lee Jackson (Brooklyn NY) - Pretty Lady
JT Kirkland (Washington, D.C.) - Thinking About Art
Mary Klein (Minneapolis, MN) - stillifes

Eva Lake (Portland, OR) -Eva Lake
Steven LaRose - (Ashland OR) Steven LaRose
Michael Lease (Richmond VA) - Annabelle’s Aspirin
Jean McClung (Pittsburgh PA) Urban Bytes
John Morris (Pittsburgh, PA) - Digging Pittsburgh Arts
Elizabeth Perry (Pittsburgh, PA) - Woolgathering
Christopher Reiger (New York, NY) Hungry Hyaena
Libby Rosof (Philadelphia PA) Fallon and Rosof
Marc Snyder (Pittsburgh, PA) - Fiji Island Mermaid Press

Digging Pitt Gallery
4417 Butler St.
Pittsburgh, PA 15201
p 412.605.0450
f 412.605.0451

Bill's essay.
Mary's link.
Edward's blurb.
Marc's page.

AFTM-4

Golden Blonde

Parched Earth

Brindel

I simply can't bring myself to participate, in fact, I'm trying to figure out why I am a little offended.

Hi, I would like to let you know about an exciting research conducted by MIT - Massachusetts Institute of Technology and ArtForecast. The research examines the myth of the term “Eye for Art” by presenting a set of artworks images to various participants. Participants are challenged to choose the most promising artwork out of a given set and to try to predict which artwork will be the most valuable in one year. I would greatly appreciate your assistance by telling others about this unique and exciting research. Please enter www.ArtForecast.org for more information and to take part in the research. Best regards, Ron www.ArtForecast.org

Kristian Burford

Hey! Wait a minute. . . Beatrice Caracciolo isn't represented by Magrorocca, like I claimed two posts ago, but Kristian Burford is! I got my notes mixed up. Before I get too far into explaining why I love this painting, I should give you some context.
This is the title:

KATHRYN:

Kathryn, who is thirteen years old, is staying after school at her grandparent’s house. It is nine o’clock on a November evening. She has escaped the company of her grandparents to play with her grandparent’s cat, which is a queen named Lucy, by moving into the sunroom of her grandparent’s house. After some minutes of happily petting the cat it has turned on Kathryn, penetrating the skin of her left index finger with its fangs and raising three lines of skin on her left wrist with the claws of its left paw. In response to Lucy’s attack, Kathryn has grabbed at the cat in an effort to disentangle herself from it. She has been fortunate enough to find the cat’s collar with three fingers of her right hand. This has allowed her sufficient purchase on Lucy’s slippery form to remove the cat to the carpeted floor of the sunroom. Kathryn has placed her injured finger in her mouth so as to contain her pain and her blood. She has then recognized that she has wet herself and has, simultaneously, taken her finger from her mouth,

2001
Mixed Media
Dimensions variable
Unique

. . .but then I thought, "This is a painting, isn't it?"

I sent this e-mail, and then I laughed so hard. . .

Hi (fictional name),
Sorry it took me a week to respond to this. I just put 4 knobs in the USPS system and I have a "Delivery Confirmation" receipt. Thanks for offering the replacements. We definitely love the knobs. . . and we are now handicapped when it comes to opening the upper cabinets. However, please don't send anything until you receive the four I've sent you. I've marked each knob with a piece of tape and an arrow pointing towards the areas that are de-laminating. I'm not sure what to call it. Exfoliating? Sloughing? Paint foil coming off the edges? It seems to be starting on the back side edge of the knobs. It actually isn't a bad aesthetic thing as we never would have noticed if I hadn't of cut my finger on the tiniest of edges. You'll see. The knobs I sent: one has an entire edge that has come off while two have the beginnings of sharp edges while the last one is showing signs of blistering paint that indicates that something hasn't bonded in some step of the process. It is so tiny, and like I say, ultimately no big deal, but I thought I should warn you because I got cut. . . and some people would flip out about something like that.

As far as the cleaning agents, it doesn't seem to be that because. . . there hasn't been any. But these four knobs definitely came from the highest traffic areas of the kitchen.

We bought the knobs from: (Fictional Name) in Ashland OR

We live at: (My address)

Thanks for your time and your prompt response.
Sincerely,
Steven LaRose

Finally, a guy that can paint.

Moon Beom
Possible Worlds 512
Kim Foster Gallery

This chick is hot (how come all the painters I've been gravitating to are women?)

Beatrice Caracciolo
Water Mark 11, 2006
mixed media on paper mounted on canvas
38 x 61 1/2"

Beatrice is showing with the Charles Cowles Gallery.
Macrorocca, is another gallery that represents Beatrice and her languidly charged paintings.
Doesn't the Macrorocca brand,

remind you of the Michael Kohn brand?
Never mind, they're completely opposite.
Yin and Yang really.

I sense a balance of force and delicacy in the paintngs of Beatrice Caracciolo.
Not just now, but even then:Beatrice Caracciolo
Untitled, 1999
mixed media on paper mounted on canvas
32 1/4 x 26 1/2"

AFTM2007-3 (art for the masses)

Fresh Lemon

Peach Satin

Shire Fields

Bluecoat

Heaven Scent

Spring Grass

Autumn Blaze

Spring Crocus

Plantation Beige

High Sun

Shenandoah

Angel Peach

Rendevous Blue


Priscila Pink

El Sol

pencil on paint swatches
3" x 6" (roughly)