Artist Trading Cards

While making my drawings, I have been thinking about how the the combination of the different materials I am using work work together for a common goal, a finished drawing, and these drawings then become an entity in themselves.  In my studio are placed as many drawings on the wall as will fit. Upon looking at and contemplating the works together I began to think of the accumulation of the drawings as another piece in and of itself, made up of numerous 'players' or a result of a 'team' of drawings. Each piece being able to stand alone while at the same time contributing to something larger. 

As a sportscard collector I decided to take the idea of a 'team of drawings' to the realm of actual trading cards. I found a company that made baseball cards and decided to have a couple of my drawing made in to cards. They are the same size as baseball cards and even have the glossy finish. 

Since making these cards I have found out that there are events where artists show and trade ATC's (art trading cards) but these are usually  just little artworks that are on the 3.5x2.5 in format. Mine are different in that I have the photos of my artwork printed directly onto a baseball card. 

Skulls, my connection with David Dunlap

The use of skulls has been a recent addition to my work, but is not new to my interests. As a young boy, I was fascinated by the components that living creatures are made of. I loved looking at diagrams of muscle structure, veins and arteries, and of course the skeletal system. The skull in particular was striking in that it is made up of many different bones, but unlike the rest of the skeleton, the bones of the skull combine to form one unit that rely on each other and remain fused together even after all other parts have turned to dust.  

In my teenage years the skull acted as a way to bring out a rebellious side in me and tell authoritative  figures in my life to "stick it". Skulls were scary they belonged to the dead or those soon to be. They represented pirates, criminals and the lawless. Seeing someone with a tattoo of a skull instantly told be that they were a dangerous person. 

It was not until I saw an image of David Dunlap including pirate flags into his art that I started using skulls in my own work. It was a way for me to communicate with the man in a strictly visual way. I started sending images I made of skulls and he in turn would send me new images. It is a fun way to communicate with a limited verbal interaction. 

Instead of trying to verbally interpret what the other person is saying with their imagery, it is done using only visual cues. This has been an interesting form of communication that I hope will continue. 

Island Hoppers

After my post of T.C.'s Chopper, I was reminded by my good friend that while on the ground, T.C. drove a VW Vanagon with a matching paint scheme. 

I will make a prediction and say that the same color format and configuration will show up in a future artwork of mine. (i got a lock)

Fred Eerdekens

This is a work that I installed at a private residence. It is a beautiful example of the work of Fred Eerderkins. As you can see, the work is dependent on the light source in order to complete the piece. But even with out the light casting a shadow and spelling the title, it still functions very nicely.  If you like this work, you can see more of it at the Spencer Brownstone website. 

TC's Chopper

I was thinking about some of the things I thought were cool when I was was kid and Magnum's Ferrari was cool but it never compared to TC's chopper. TC's chopper also blows away Zeds chopper but we all know that "Zed's dead baby, Zed's dead"

I know this doesn't fit with my blog but I just wanted to post it. 

The Artist Statement

An artist statement is always one of those things that throws me off. The question of how does all of my artwork fit into one little statement. If art is a visual language, why does it need to be translated for the viewer? As I look at the work I have made in New York, I find a common thread between everything and that is the materials and how I am using them. Sometimes the imagery is abstract while at other times it is based in some form of representation, mostly with the use of an iconographic form that represents some sort of encompassing thought I have about a secret society for example. But when the representation is taken away, the drawings still contain a common thread. 

Apart from the representation, I am interested in creating a space that lies somewhere between three dimensional and a flat space that addresses the surface. I have been working laboriously on the small drawings so that 'feel' carries over into the drawing. A slow build-up of graphite on the tooth of the paper until the pencil begins to burnish the paper and change it's texture. Doing the same with ball-point pen while including multiple lines in order to give a shape a pulsating affect. Markers have allowed me a very 'dead' form of mark-making that has been challenging to work with but allows for a space that cannot be achieved any other way. The last drawing tool I have been using is highlighters. They have provided me with a means of accenting small areas while at the same time giving a rich color to the work. 

Abstraction has always played an important role in my work but I enjoy being able to use imagery when it is needed. And then the question of 'when is it needed and why' needs to be explained and that is where things start to fall apart for me. I start to feel that the reasoning needs to be profound and will begin to loose its impact if it is not backed up by some current social issue placed on our shoulders by society. 

When it comes down to it, I want my statement to be about what I like in art and that is the way different materials are used and how beautiful and exciting it can be when they are combined in one piece and  begin to speak in unison while still retaining their individuality. 

With my current series of drawings, I am giving myself the permission to stop a drawing whenever I want and then start a new one that is a copy with additions. For example, these two drawings were both started with a different intention in mind.  As I began the bottom one with the felt tip markers I liked the way the white of the paper was interacting with the fading marker stripes, so, I stopped at that point and began another.  The top drawing became a conversation with the first and I wanted it to speak to the silent white space of the first with a voice that spoke in a similar volume as the faded stripes. Working in this manner has allowed me to look at details of similar ideas that are expressed in different mediums.