Zaida has been hanging out in the studio occasionally.

It is only a matter of time before. . .

The burden which a thing puts on someone trying to explain or understand it.

Steven LaRose, Be Near My Lowest Light, 2011

Oil on acrylic on Masonite, 7 x 6 inches

Glum Pop

Steven LaRose, Too Much Time In Studies, 2011
Oil on acrylic on Masonite, 7 x 6 inches

My 10 year old daughter just asked, "Whoa. . . I like this, who is this?" My answer was: "Grant Green"

Steven LaRose, I Contain Multitudes, 2011
Oil on acrylic on Masonite, 6 x 7 inches

Steven LaRose, Introducing the Symmetry Sisters, 2011
Oil on acrylic on Masonite, 7 x 6 inches

Here is another painting that just rolled off the conveyor belt after weeks of graphing and before the addition of salt, sugar and nitrates

Steven LaRose, Like Litter That A Riot Leaves, 2011
Oil on acrylic on Masonite, 6 x 7 inches

uh oh. . . it is "statement of purpose" time

Steven LaRose, The Prairies' Dreaming Sod, 2011
Oil on acrylic on Masonite, 7 x 6 inches

I need some input:

The paintings always gotta have a little pitch. We need those knots in order to hold all the ribbons in one place; a bow as it were.

Flickering on the edges of my eye/hand coordination, The Hidden Persuaders are paintings that I have swiped from my/our periphery.

Any words that come to mind after a painting is finished are consequently archeological speculation.

I need to paint faster than words in order to capture The Periphery, and yet, in order to do that, I need to stare at a painting for days and days at a time and then, of course, look away.

These things didn't just happen in a "happy accident" sort of way, rather, they took hours and hours of studied boredom followed by a couple seconds of glorious unknown.

Argosies of Magic Sails

Steven LaRose, Pilots of the Purple Twilight, 2011
Oil on acrylic on Masonite, 6 x 7 inches

Steven LaRose, Five Sovereign Fingers Taxed the Breath, 2011
Oil on acrylic on Masonite, 6 x 7 inches

The Alien Queen Will Ride

Steven LaRose, Take Me to the Other Side, 2011

Oil on acrylic on wood, 6 x 7 inches

Here it comes

There is definitely something in the air.

Some are more cool about it than others.

Wouldn't it be cool to have your own personal marketing team?

Back of the card.

Front of the card.

Early sketch.
Bid on this drawing at this LINK and 50% of the final sale price will support Hands on Tokyo

Blogpost titles are escaping me at the moment

Steven LaRose, Outbraving Dignity, 2011
Oil on acrylic on wood, 6 x 7 inches

We'll give you this unfinished painting FREE if you purchase one of our vacuums

"Pat Boone sold more tooty fruities than Little Richard. . . so what?"

Steven LaRose, They Became Slaves to the Composition, 2011
Oil on acrylic on Masonite, 7 x 6 inches

What should I do? I changed a painting that I posted on the eternal internet. Should I delete the post that displays the painting that no longer exists? I meant to change some subtle things but then it became a different painting that required a different title. (Click here to see the unfinished version of this painting).

Look what I tumbled upon

So there I was, setting up my tumblr world when I came across this image. It is painted by a guy named Jordan Daines who has this flickr page. When I saw the thumbnail on a tumblr feed, I thought it was one of my paintings. Very cool. I decided to separate my tumblr world into two prongs, one for my images, and one for all the wonderful things that I find out there. Fish or Cut Bait (light) and My tumblr likes, respectively. Anyway, this Jordan fellow sure turned my crank. Let's look at another one:

Number one of twenty from my new nameless suite and a tangent from Wikipedia about Masonite

(UPDATE ALERT: THE PAINTING REPRESENTED IN THE JPG ABOVE NO LONGER EXISTS IN THE REAL WORLD)
Steven LaRose, Petra Haden, 2011
oil on acrylic on Masonite, 7 x 6 inches

William Henry Mason. (Walter William Ouless)

1944 Quebec license plate made of masonite. This was done due to metal conservation during World War II.

Skateboard ramp covered in masonite.

Masonite is a type of hardboard invented by William H. Mason.^[1]

Masonite was invented in 1924 in Laurel, Mississippi, by William H. Mason.^[2] Mass production started in 1929. In the 1930s and 1940s Masonite was used for many applications including doors, roofing, walls, desktops,^[3] and canoes. It is still sometimes used for house siding and, if kept painted at regular intervals, it will last the life of the house. Its popularity later faded, but it is still used, most notably by hobbyists. It is widely used for interior doors and gave birth to a door company of the same name.

It is formed using the Mason method, using wood chips, blasting them into long fibers with steam and then forming them into boards. The boards are then pressed and heated to form the finished boards. No glue or other material is added. The long fibers give Masonite a high bending strength, tensile strength, density and stability. Unlike other composite wood panels produced using formaldehyde-based resins to bind fibers, Masonite is made using natural ingredients only, which makes it an environmentally friendly product.

A chessboard made of masonite.

Artists have often used it as a support for painting, and in artistic media such as linocut printing. Masonite's smooth surface makes it a suitable material for table tennis tables and skateboard ramps. Masonite is also popular among theater companies as an inexpensive way to resurface stage floors.

Moving companies are large users of Masonite. Among other things, they use it to protect the walls of buildings they are working in, and lay it on floors to enable smooth rolling of dollies loaded with goods.

Masonite is widely used in construction, particularly in high-end renovations where floors are finished prior to other work and require protection. Sheets of ⅛" or ¼" masonite are typically laid over rosin paper on finished floors to protect them. The masonite sheets are taped together with duct tape to prevent shifting and to keep substances from leaking through.

Masonite is also used extensively in the construction of sets for theater and film and television. It is especially common in theaters as the stage floor, painted matte black.

It is also considered one of the best materials in the making of a musical Wobble board.

Masonite is also a popular choice for cake boards for professional cake decorators, due to its being a natural product and being strong enough to support multiple tiered creations, such as wedding cakes.

It is also called Marsonite. In Europe, this product is also known as Isorel.

To a lesser extent, Masonite is used in guitar bodies, most notably by Danelectro.

Masonite was also a popular protective backing for wooden console stereo and television cabinets from the 1960s to the 1980s.

Masonite swells and rots over time when exposed to the elements, and may prematurely deteriorate when it is used as exterior siding. In 1996, International Paper (IP) lost a class action suit brought by homeowners whose Masonite siding had deteriorated. The jury found that IP's Masonite siding was defective. ^[4]

Tumblr Track Down

http://duanekeiser.tumblr.com/

http://billgusky.tumblr.com/

http://andrewharlow.tumblr.com/

http://billgusky.tumblr.com/

http://supersonicelectronic.com/

http://fracturedconnections.tumblr.com/

A Tree and Its Apple

I found this image on my phone. I did not create this shot. The fact that Stacy is clear over by the toaster leads me to believe that only one person could have been behind this lens. I can only guess that my daughter is the imp behind this gorilla photography.
I had to fight back. . . didn't I?

What do you do?

I watered down some black acrylic paint and started my next large horizontal painting. This one will be six inches taller than the last one: 36 x 80 inches.

"Why fight the landscape?" I thought. I'm going slightly bigger, and yet, I am preparing twenty new tiny panels.

Would Chuck Close Be Proud?

I dig the Macro/Micro tension, but wouldn't it be great if the Macro wasn't based on nostalgic irony? I cut and pasted the following from this link that was at this site.

　

Idora -The last supper-2010
pen,resinpaint on cotton,mounted on board
h.194×w.388×d.5cm.

　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　

　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　detail-1

　　　

　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 detail-2

tmi wednesday

Sometimes (once or twice a week) I take the dogs for a leash-less walk in the hills behind Ashland. What is with this deeply and modernly disturbing tendency to orient towns so that their "back" is towards the wilderness and their "front" is focused on the Interstate?

I don't watch a lot of moving pictures. There is nothing wrong with them mind you, but Television, Movies, and Video Art are often too garish or pedestrian for me. Consequently, I am moving-picture-illiterate and EVERYTHING astounds me.

New Things With Old Techniques

Steven LaRose, The Illimitable Inane, 2011
Oil on acrylic on wood laminate, 30 x 80 inches
(click on image for a closer view)

This is a personal best.
Now I have to try and beat this.

Another trip to Portland.

I've blogumented about my trips to Portland before. Once to see an art fair (link), once to see Whiting receive an award (link), and once for cancer (link).

This time I was bringing a painting up to a new endeavour called PRESENTspace (link).

For those who turn their noses up at lengthy personal diatribes I submit this spoiler: My trip to Portland was the perfect balance of shit, I could do better than that, and "whoa". I came home and immediately started cleaning the studio.

Once upon a time, I went to Whitman College in Walla Walla Washington. Yes, Walla Walla is that very town that was named after Bugs Bunny's incantation at the end of "Transylvania 6-5000" (5:58 into the movie).

I met Micajah Bienvenu in Walla Walla. Some years went by and when facebook was invented I re-met Micajah. I introduced him to Eva Lake and now they are two prongs of the trident that is PRESENTspace. I was bringing a painting up to hang behind the desk, feel the place out, and experience Micajah's sculptures for the first time.

I got there too early to get into the space, but with plenty of time to walk around Portland's Pearl District. I did the usual stuff, but with gusto. Only Jane Timken's paintings (link) stirred my aesthetic loins.


Those two paintings were enough. The drive was worth it. I headed back to PRESENTspace and hung my painting. I hung it where Micajah had trained a spotlight on the wall.

It is a big and raw space.

Oh look, there is Eva wielding a Swingline.

Big.

I have full confidence that some walls will be built before my show opens on April 7th. In the meantime, this painting called Twain from 2008 has been nominated to represent a foreshadowing teaser for things to come.

I met many interesting people at Micajah's opening. I didn't even fart once. It was really cold in the space so my nose ran clear one time when I laughed, but I don't know if anybody noticed. Hanging out at a gallery and chatting is a great time. The next time we are at a gallery together, you and I should talk about it.

When I got home the next day. . . today, I approached my studio from a different angle.

Our house looks like a two story house but it isn't. It is just up off the ground because we have underground springs. My studio is halfway underground. My door is on the left, under the awning.

Today I swept and shop-vacked my stairs. No more leaves, dog hair, and black widows' nests.

When you open the door into my studio you are met with two of my working walls. One is a horizontal space, the other vertical.

Turning right you can see the back wall that is more of a staging area now.

I can't seem to let go of that old drafting table.

Another quarter turn and we are looking at whatever is the opposite of a "working wall".

I need to attend to my brushes.

What is that above the light switch?

Anyway, the last turn points us back at the door

I'm thinking of painting the floor before I go any further.
Waste of time or tone setter?
We'll see.