triangles

I wanted something modern and bright for the show. I decided to start with wood triangles and connect them in a strange way (with masking tape for this part) and then spray paint, finger paint, splatter, drip, etc. with red and yellow on the wood to make it look "fiery." I want to make a cool design with the paint, but for now I'm just having fun and getting some texture. At the end, I will hang the triangles on the wall about an inch apart.

untitled

I have been working on this piece for weeks and it is finally almost done. I originally tried to spray paint the faces, but it ended up like big black smudges. So I then went over it with black and white acrylic paint to paint the faces by hand. This was really tedious because it took several coats of white paint to cover the black spray paint. Each time I got a smudge on one of the solid colors I had to mix the color and go over the whole thing again. I wanted this piece to be very straight and precise, with no texture, which is why I was such a perfectionist about the straight, even edges. I also did not want the faces to be of famous people, but some of them ended up looking like famous people (not how i intended them to turn out when I drew them). After a couple last touch ups this piece should be ready, and hopefully in the show on May 7th.

bottles

While I was waiting for some stuff to dry today, i noticed I had accumulated a large collection of vitamin water bottles in the desk in my studio. I decided to spray paint them to see what would happen. I'm not really sure where this is going, but I decided to use the primary colors. 

4/22/09

This is a water color painting I am working on. I wanted to do something with the female figure, but in only one color. I decided to use water color because I love how it looks with figure drawing, its messy, but looks 3D. I just started this today, so the proportions are not accurate yet. Something thats difficult though is the water color itself can not really be erased, and it dries very quickly. There's little room for error, but I'm considering going over some spots in white acrylic (i'll test it out first in my sketchbook). 

plan for show

For the final show, I want to have a pretty large, colorful piece. I am going to take a 2' x 3' piece of plywood and cut it into several triangles. I am then going to put the pieces together to work on so that the design on it is all connected. Then I am going to splatter paint and make an abstract design with red, orange, and yellow acrylic paint. After the design is try, I will separate the pieces and place them all an inch apart on the wall in the gallery for the show. In total, my piece will take up a little more than 2 feet  by 3 feet. 

galleries

i loved the galleries. i found all of the exhibits very interesting. i would have liked to stay and talk to Joseph Carroll for longer, but I wanted to go explore. My favorite piece was a photo in OHT gallery where the artist (Lori) made small dioramas of scenes that she found intriguing. She then photographed these scenes to look life-sive. I could have stared at these pictures forever. In fact, I could have looked through all those galleries forever. I find it much more interesting than walking through museums. 

Articles about Boston Art Scene

I think that the change in the art scene in Boston (and everywhere else) is mainly driven by the economical crisis we are facing. Rent is so expensive, and people are less willing to buy luxury goods, so galleries are suffering. Several are closing down in the South End and on Newbury Street. In the long run, I think that this might be a nice downsizing because it will bring more focus to the more prominent galleries. However, right now it seems terrible (especially for the gallery owners) because the contemporary art scene in Boston is shifting dramatically, and taking a turn for the worse. People are desperate for money, and art is such a difficult industry to be successful in. Not to mention the fact that no one can afford to spend $20,000 on an oil painting. 

I have been to several art galleries. I love the galleries in Portsmouth, as well as all of the ones down in the South End and on Newbury Street. I have an internship at Gallerie Dorsay on Newbury Street, so whenever I'm there I tend to roam and browse through other galleries in that area. I love the feel of a gallery, more so than a museum. I feel that it is more personal and intimate, and I can take a closer look at the work. Also, the art seems to be more real; real artists using real subject matter. Museum art tends to be more famous, usually by people who are deceased or from a different era. Galleries are more contemporary, and I think it is important for us as artists to focus more on that side of the art world.