Sunday, December 7, 2008

The Worst is Yet to Come





Disclaimer.....I am no financial expert. I am just a normal guy who reads the paper three times a week and keep an eye on the small amount of money that I have in the stock market. I have an opinion of the financial crises. I think it is important for people like me to voice there opinion on these matters because if not us then who. It will be the so called experts financial advisers, banks and lenders that voice there opinion. I believe the whole problem of this financial crisis is that people blindly trusted others with there investments they did not understand what there money was doing.

This Recession happened because of poor investments. People wanted something for nothing. Because the stock market had done so well in the past the belief was that it would continue to return 10% every year. To maximise profits people took there money out of savings and CD's which give 4% to 6% returns and invested into the market. People went all in without thinking of the risk of failure.

People would rather risk than work. I think American forgotten what work is, we want something for nothing. We want or money to grow but we don't want to put in the work. The unemployment rate now is the highest since the 1970 yet skilled workers are in very high demand. What does this tell us? It's simple nobody knows how to do anything so they become unemployed. People want to get paid for simply showing up to work. It used to be a carpenter could build a whole house. Now nobody builds entire houses anymore. One job is devided into many jobs done by professionals who specialize is individual tasks. One guy for the pluming, one guy for the Dry Wall, one Guy for the Roofing. I think this goes across the work force. People can do one task but can't peace the whole thing together.

I think Americans have become very Lazy and unless we start putting in some effort we will fall behind. Lately I have had a desire to paint this American Cynicism

The painting above is called "The Worst is Yet to Come" We have to business men with ridiculous reactions. They look as if they just witnessed there whole family fly of a cliff to their death in a mini van. Actually they are watching a number go down. Don't get me wrong it hurts to lose 10% of your money in one day but these reactions are ridiculous. To react like this over money shows great greed. I have painted this in a almost comedic approached.

The Hitchhiker


"11 By 14" Oil on Canvas.

Saturday, October 4, 2008

ART EXPLOSION OPEN STUDIOS 2008

Free to the Public

Please join us for our 14th Annual Fall Open Studios. Each fall, the talented artists at The Art Explosion open their studios to the public for one remarkable weekend of art & entertainment. Located in the Mission District of San Francisco, The Art Explosion has 3 locations within easy walking distance. You will find more than 140 artists, painters, photographers, ceramic artists, metal artists, sculptors, jewelers, fabric artists and more! It’s an incredible chance to view hundreds of quality artworks at studio prices, meet the artists, hear what inspires them & see where they work.




Preview Party: Thursday October 16th 5pm-8pm

Opening Reception: Friday October 17th 7pm-11pm

Open Studios: Saturday October 18th 11am-6pm

Sunday October 19th 11am-6pm





744 Alabama St. @ 19th Street.







Also I will be displaying work at the UCSF Faculty Art Show.

A variety of works of art will be on display at the UCSF Faculty and Staff Art Show, which runs from Monday, Oct. 6, to Friday, Oct. 10, at Millberry Union on the Parnassus campus.
The community is invited to the opening reception on Monday, Oct. 6, from 5 to 7 p.m. in the Millberry Union Event & Meeting Center, 500 Parnassus Ave. Light refreshments will be served and music will be provided by Grupo Falso Baiano.


The viewing times for the art show are Tuesday through Thursday, Oct. 7 through 9, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Friday, Oct. 10, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Admission is free and open to the public.

Hope to see you there

Saturday, September 13, 2008

Some New Paintings And Some Re-Shoots







Sometimes I need to re-shoot work. My last post many of the paintings were to light so I re Shot them. Plus......I re-shot the 405.....Prints to come soon

Sunday, September 7, 2008

Saturday, August 23, 2008

Plein Air ...is the desire to paint outside over?

No, I will still paint in the plein air method, lately I have been enjoying studio painting. I have been at the freeways again but this time I am taking what I learned in the field to the studio. Plein air has taught me many new approaches. The most use full tool I leaned that has carried over is the ability to finish paintings. I can plan a painting from start to finish with a beginning and an end. Plein air is defiantly not over! Check out my latest work both in the studio and out in the field.








Monday, August 18, 2008

Tuesday, August 12, 2008

Plein Air Club Interview

Painting sold during interview

Saturday, August 2, 2008

"Everything becomes so complex that the human brain simplifies it to make since of it"

July is gone and August is here. I have just completed my second book and I am excited to start a new two month period. For those of you who don't know I produce a book every two months. These books work for me on two levels.

The first level allows me to have a mobile portfolio. I am able to take it with me and display it to many without having to bring pictures or originals.
The second level, It allows me to see my progress. Often things get bad before they get better. A bad painting is only a couple of steps away from becoming the greatest painting of all time,...... I truly believe this. The book allows me to view my success and see the failures that led to them. It is for this reason that I print everything......The good and the bad. Most recent my style has began to loosen up. With this loose style I paint in water color and oil. I paint in the two mediums in the same technique and I discovering the which medium I prefer .

To explain this discovery I will briefly explain the process. I will explain this process as a paint an oil and a watercolor which is the same method. I start by laying down some ground color. Usually a yellow orange or a pale yellow. Then I mix in a Violette and loosely describe linear forms allowing the yellow to mix with the Violette Producing a color the shoots through the spectrum changing from yellow to a desaturated red(AKA brown) to Violette. This play with the color spectrum gives the painting movement and lust full color. I then proceed to fill in color fields with reds greens and blues. These colors react with the Yellow brown Violette lines in exciting, unpredictable, and dramatic ways. After everything is filled in the wrestling match begins........ Trying to direct the eye, using line, through the color fields of the painting. I Complete the painting when all of these colors, line, and form in there complexity become simple. .....Everything becomes so complex that the human brain simplifies it to make since of it. A good painting plays with the mind. When a viewer looks at one of my paintings he or she first sees a simple design then they are pulled into a overwhelming complexity. They then become fascinated as there brain tries to make since of this image. "How can something be so complex and so calm" they ask them self's.

This complexity balance works better in oil than it does in watercolor because of drying time and texture. Watercolor prepares me and trains me for oil. I see watercolor more as sketching.