GOODBYE LITTLE DOGGIE

Nearly a year has gone by since the burial of my dog. I remember holding her cold stiff body in my arms one last time before I laid her down and buried her.  Soon after, I carved out this print and wanted her to be a part of much of my artwork. Late August marks the first anniversary of her death and this was the only artwork I've done of her since. Life has kept me busy, and sometimes days go by without even thinking of her, but every now and then I do and it makes me happy...and it makes me sad. Perhaps this now old print will inspire me again to remember her. Goodbye again Brenna B. Jones.

DIVE IN DINER

Patricia and I collaborated on a block print project for the Great Art House Print Exchange. The exhibition will be held at The Brooklyn Art Library on July 16th. For participating we will also receive 15 prints from other artists, so it should be fun to see their take on the theme: "It'll be fun, I swear." Here are some more images on Patricia's flickr page.

A DEBUT GONE BY

Hard to believe that over a week has gone by since the Urban Artists Collective (uac) gallery show debut at Willo North Gallery. I thought it went well as there was a steady crowd throughout the night having a great time enjoying the local art scene.

The Phoenix downtown scene is yearning for a serious art venue that still maintains an urban fresh edge and I'm hoping that with so many artists in our neighborhood, we can contribute in giving this hot city (and right now, I do mean hot) its vibrancy that it deserves.

The show is up through the end of July with events planned for Third Friday and July's First Friday.

URBAN ARTISTS COLLECTIVE DEBUT

photo by Jill Lawrence, uac member

Urban Artists Collective (uac) debut gallery show is on First Friday, June 4th 2010, at Willo North Gallery. Much preparation went into putting the show together. The artists pitched in and helped hang and coordinate the space. Here I am figuring out some final touches. Come in to see the creative and varied work of uac.

PROFILE OF A MIGRANT

The sun rays beat down on the dark skin that blends into this barren land. Darkness nears as drips of freedom stain this earth. It had a good run, but greed creates borders. This race is an opportunistic, violent, talented race. This is the journey of the human race.

WHITE

This painting completes the Red, White and Blue series. I gave this one more movement than the others, but still tried to maintain a certain flatness to the figure. I wanted the white in this image to represent a certain type of haze, smoke, dust or light that impedes progress.

CHUCK CLOSE ENCOUNTERS

A full day of art was capped off by visiting the SMOCA (Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art) where they had a sketching event in the galleries alongside a Chuck Close exhibit. It's quite amazing how much patience is involved in creating these prints. Here's my sketch using white pencil on black paper.