Live Painting at Chop Suey 3/31/10

That's right folks, I'm going to be painting before a live audience during a funk/hip-hop show at Chop Suey on Wednesday, March 31st, starting around probably 10:00 pm or so. My friends Irukandji* will be headlining, and before their set a group called Down North** will be performing. I've never done anything like this before and I'm very excited. In preparation, I've done a few practice sessions in my studio during which I began with a blank canvas and tried to "finish" a piece within 90 minutes, which is the length of Irukandji's set. Down North has also agreed to let me paint during their set, so now it looks like I'll have even more time, which will lead to an even more AWESOME painting! I haven't done much painting lately, so these practice sessions have completely rekindled my passion for painting. Yay!

I'd be thrilled if you could make it to the show!! Come enjoy the music and cheer me on!

Chop Suey

1325 E Madison St

Seattle, WA 98122

$7 / 8 pm doors / 21+

*IRUKANDJI - Nine-piece Hip Hop, Soul, Trip Hop, Funk Fusion live band hailing from Seattle, WA. With infectious melodies and in-your-face, brazen lyrics, whole communities have been left stunned and unable to resist dancing all night long.

**Down North - Down North is an alternative-funk band from Seattle that shapes the dancefloor with funky beats and slammin' vocals. Down North is fronted by explosive singer Anthony Briscoe, claiming influence from artists such as Prince, Michael Jackson and James Brown. The rhythm section of Brandon Storms, Bass, Tony Demuri, Drums, and Scott Smith, Keys throws down infectious pop melodies over solid funky rhythms for an unforgettable night of dancing.

A new workshop and a return to mixed media

The house I rent has this huge unfinished basement that I finally reorganized, cleaned up and transformed into the workspace of my dreams, despite the moderate flooding during downpours, the plethora of cobwebs, and the lack of heat. I'm in love. It's absolutely fabulous. I can hardly believe it. I have all my tools and supplies out and ready to go, there's an abundance of counter space, plenty of light and I can make any kind of mess I want.

This means I can finally return to the style of making 3D mixed media pieces with found objects on cupboard doors that I had enjoyed so much in the last mess-friendly workspace I had, three whole years ago. I'm in heaven. I foresee an outpouring of new works.

Here is a photo of the first piece I have completed in my new space:

Materials include a beat-up cupboard door, leather from some old boots, worn denim, burlap, paper bag, driftwood, moss, lichen, abalone shell, plastic figurine, bird-shaped clay, toy truck, and rusty nails. Here are a couple shots that describe the preliminary stages I go through to create a piece like this:

Over the years I have collected all kinds of little doodads, little objects that other people might consider trash, and anything at all that I might be able to manipulate to create a 3D "collage." I sort them into categories by color, size, material, etc. and then play around with them in different combinations in hopes of generating new ideas. The following photos do not represent anything even close to a final composition, but I like to photo-document everything anyway:

Stay tuned for more! If I can tear myself away from my basement to make blog posts, that is.