The March to Tashkent

Here is another piece from my show at the Rothick Arthaus. Entitled The March to Tashkent, it is based on a time when Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, while still serving time in the labor camps (gulags), had to go to a hospital in Tashkent because of a tumor. His tumor was removed, but the cancer was not diagnosed for a few more years, almost killing him (I know what that feels like). This hospital in Tashkent was the inspiration for his novel Cancer Ward, a story where he used tumors as a metaphor for  the problems in Russia. The novel is also the basis for most of my artwork in this show.

The March to Tashkent is ink, acrylic, and newspaper on wood panel. 24" x 32"

Reclaimed pt.7

One day while in Florence, my friends and I decided to jump on a train and see where it would take us. It sounded really exciting. First we stopped off at a small town to get some local wine, but the winery was closed. Then we got here. It was a big city with a big church built on the side of a hill. In fact most of this city was built on the side of the hill and had really steep streets going up it. We hiked up to see what we could see. I saw this and the rather large church. Afterward we thought the trip was kind of a waste, but I recently changed my mind because I just some art out of it...

In Italy is ink and acrylic on cardboard. 8.25" x 10.75"

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Somewhere in London... Reclaimed pt. 6

I took a photo of this while wandering around London. I believe I was on my way to St. Paul's Cathedral, but I could be wrong. It was an interesting place because among all these tall buildings was this pit where trains emerged from underground tunnels. I spent some time trying to find it on google maps, but i havent turned anything up just yet... if you happen to recognize this place let me know.

Somewhere in London is ink and acrylic on cardboard. 25" x 28"

part 6 of my "Reclaimed" series.

Steps:

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Torn Apart

This series will be going to Amsterdam on Monday. It is now in the hands of two art collectors from that city. They are really cool guys that come out every year for Coachellafest and I couldnt be happier that they were the ones to get it.

I cant say it was really easy for me to part from this series, as I created it shortly after going in to remission from cancer. It is the first of my artwork to get in a gallery and it is also my first 'real' sale (see the original post here). On Thursday I got to pack it all up and ready it for the flight to its new home. The photo below includes one of the guys, Robert, and I in front of my series...

Torn Apart is a 9 panel series. Each panel is ink, acrylic, and newspaper on wood. 12" x 18"

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Art4aCure

I just finished this piece for Art4aCure. They are a non-profit organization that sells donated artwork to raise funds for stage one cancer research. This is the cutting edge research that explores new ways to fight cancer with less harm to the patient. It is a great NPO and I wanted to contribute something to them for a while. A lot of the artwork gets hung up in Premiere Oncology, an infusion room in Los Angeles.

I designed this piece specifically to be hung up there and used cool, calming colors for it. The meaning of flower itself is calming and relaxing and you are supposed to send it to people you admire. The white spatters project purity and cleanliness (from cancer), and encourages us to clear obstacles. The blue background invokes rest and serenity. The newsprint that is barely visible stands for all the things that gets put on a back burner while one fights through this life threatening disease (at least thats how it was for me).

Quite an explanation, but hopefully this helps some of the cancer patients who go to Premiere Oncology for chemo infusion...

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Reclaimed pt.5

Here are some smaller pieces I made for my reclaimed series. I pulled these from photos I took while traveling through Europe. The lamp post is London's East side and the cloud is from the sky. They will be used to fill in gaps in areas and add more interesting sizes to the collection. Nothing really exciting but itll be worth it in the end... trust me.

From East Side is acrylic and ink on cardboard. 10.5" x 3.75" Rain is acrylic and ink on cardboard. 3.25" x 5.25"
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Leftovers

This painting I just did yesterday. I dont like wasting excess paint, so all of the paint used here has been left overs from other projects. The purples, blues, and oranges are all from one of the first projects I posted on here (Color Assignment). All of the white was excess paint from the white wash used in upcoming pieces of my Reclaimed Series (pt.1, pt.2, pt.3, pt.4). The shapes in the smeared colors provided the "inspiration" for the cabin and forest (and what appears to be a volcano or forest fire in the background).

Moss Mountain Shanty is acrylic on paper. 8.5" x 11"

Reclaimed pt.4

Add this one to the slowly growing pile of the series I have entitled "Reclaimed"(pt.1, pt.2, pt.3).

Via Barcelona is Ink and Acrylic on Cardboard. 7" x 9.75"

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Mt. Hood

This piece was painted after a picture of Mt. Hood and was commissioned by Alana Mayer for her husband Jason. He had loved the piece I had done earlier entitled Life is Beautiful, so we decided to base it off of that. Though in the same style, the mountain is all acrylic paint (no inks). You may also recognize the mountain from an earlier piece painted from the same picture (as seen in this post: Mountains). I also built the framing around it using good ol' fashioned wood and nails. Acrylic and Oil on Newspaper. 24" x 30"

And if your in the mood to do a little shopping, Alana has started her own clothing store entitled The Retreat.

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