Paint My Words

Three feet tall.
Carved and Acid stained Limestone
Steel for holding together
12 by 8 inch beams with cement and plug inlays

Water Treatment

24 Gallons of water total

Mash Temp 153

Strike Temp 171 for mash at 11 gallons

Sparge Water 180 degrees at 13 gallons

ca2 – 60

mg2 – 7

so4 – 141

na – 7

cl – 28

hco3 – 7

baking soda – 1gram

gypsum – 20 grams

calcium chloride – 4.5 grams

epsom salt – 7 grams

canning salt – 1 gram

Hop Additions

Chinook 1.5 oz at 75 minutes

Chinook 1.5 oz at 10 minutes

40 ibu total

Yeast

SA04

Grain Bill

Pale Malt 20lbs US 2 row

Munich Malt 1 lbs

Crystal Malt 40l 2 lbs

Crystal malt 160l 1/2 lb

Vienna Malt 1 lb

Raw White Wheat 3 lbs

Predicted OG 1.048.

Came out to 1.040. Spilled the first prime 4 gallons of wort runnoff (ughh) so the batch came out a bit more watered down than planned. This actually made the recipe better by creating a better malt balance with the hops.
90 minute boil

Predicted PreBoil OG 1.040

Fermentation

Ferment at 66 then raise to mid 70′s after one week

Flavor.
Came out light and very drinkable. Hop profile is diminutive and favors the flavor a bit more than the bittering element. Excellent smooth drinking light session beer. Not too aggressive on the hops which are one dimensional. Smaller version of a very clean blend between sierra pale ale and abita. It’s off dry, but closer to dry. Hops are slightly oily on palate with a very subtle pine flavor and even more subtle spicy herbal finish. Probably the best session pale ale for a beer lover on a hot summer day that you could ask for. Almost a lager like yeast character due to the 2 months at cellar temp and cool ferment temperatures. Just enough hops to clean off the palate, but not so much that they linger or dry the mouth out. Slight bready/caramel malt flavor to balance the hops.

2.5 feet by 2 feet
Pen and Ink on cotton rag paper

2 feet by 1.5 feet
cotton rag paper
pen and ink

Two Paintings.

Ink on Cotton Rag Paper.

2.5 by 2 feet.

Roald Dahl.
The BFG, The Enormous crocodile, The Everlasting Gobstopper
3.5 feet by 2 feet
Oil, pen and ink, on cotton rag paper.

Water Treatment

26 Gallons of water total

Mash Temp 151

Strike Temp 168 for mash at 11 gallons

Sparge Water 180 degrees at 15 gallons

ca2 – 60

mg2 – 7

so4 – 141

na – 7

cl – 28

hco3 – 7

baking soda – 1gram

gypsum – 20 grams

calcium chloride – 4.5 grams

epsom salt – 7 grams

canning salt – 1 gram

Hop Additions

Yakima Magnum Pellets 2.6 oz for 60 minutes

Yakima Magnum Pellets .75 oz at 10 minutes

chinook 2.25 oz at 10 minutes

cascade 3 oz hopback

Dry hopped at end of primary ferment with 1oz, sorachi, 1oz williamette, 1oz EKG pellets.

Yeast

WLP007 or SA04

Grain Bill

Pale Malt UK 31 lbs golden promise

Munich Malt 2 lbs

Crystal Malt 40l 2 lbs

Crystal malt 160l 1/2lb

Victory Malt 1 lb

Raw White Wheat 3 lbs

Predicted OG 1.065. It came out to 1.064 so spot on.

Predicted PreBoil OG 1.056

Fermentation

Ferment at 66 then raise to mid 70′s after one week

The whirlpool took one hour as waiting to buy the March 809 pump and had to use gravity to feed through the hoprocket. I had a 90 minute rolling boil. Wort is clear. I let the beer cool overnight before pitching as the groundwater temps were in the low 90′s, thus the wort didn’t cool to pitching temp quick enough.

Whirlfloc tab and yeast nutrients added in the last 10 minutes of the boil. Pitched two packets of SA04 and third generation of WLP007. Pitched at 67 degrees.

Hoppy West Coast Blaster – it’s a dirty version of an IPA. Exceptionally clean ferment. Lingering piney, resinous aftertaste, smooth, refined roughness. Golden to orange in color. Minimal alcohol warmth but it’s present. To be made again. Perfection in the form of a west coast evil twin style IPA. It’s meant to be more of a Red beer but turned out color wise more on the amber side which works with the flavor profile. Could work with a bit more toasty/bready malt or leave it depending on preference.

Taken from Jamil’s book of Classic Styles. Altered a bit for the ingredients at hand and personal preference for hops.

24 gallons of water adjusted for the following profile

ca 53

mg 2

sa04 105

na 7

cl 22

hco3 17

Alkalinity is 25.

Pale malt UK 25 lbs

Munich malt 2 lbs (blend of light and dark)

wheat malt 1 lb

biscuit malt 2 lbs

chocolate malt .25 lbs (color)

40l caramel (.25 lbs)

Mashed hot at 60.

large WLP007 yeast starter pitched

planned OG of 1057

1.5 oz magnum pellot for 60.

2 oz cascade at 10 minutes

1 oz chinook hopback

1oz cascade hopback

whirlpool for 15

boil for 90

anticipated FG of 1015

ferment at 65-70

ibu of 46

efficiency of 70

total batch of 12 gallons

evaporation of 12% for 90 minutes

0g of 1.060

hobback clogged need a pump.

cooled to 80 and in fridge a few hours to get to pitching temp.

A touch fruity (fermented too warm at 75). A bit of bready fruit comes through, it’s not clean but it’s not bad either. Classic british beer flavor. Soft pillowy mouthfeel. Caramel notes. Amber to light copper brown in color. Head retention is amazing. Clean finish with a slight lingering sweetness.

The F.G. on this was around 120 due to too high of a mash temp (160). I added enzymes post ferment to try and bring the F.G. down from 1.020 and dropped it to 1.016. This added a touch too much sweetness as i had to stop the referement at 1.016 leaving some unfermented sugars in the mix. It’s a good beer, not a great beer. Even with the ferment issues, I wouldn’t brew it again. A bit too dark in color. Flavors a bit too muddled. Still a good craft brew though. Better than many things available in the stores of Baton Rouge.

Cotton Rag Paper.
Pen on Ink
3 feet by 2 feet.

Made my first pie – pumpkin and sweet potato. No recipe. Just spices, butter, milk, and love.

18 by 24 inches
cotton rag paper
Gonna be on a beer label someday
Pen and Ink

WLP007 Dry English Ale Yeast (Pitched with a 2 liter) starter. Clean, highly flocculent, and highly attenuative yeast.

Water Profile build from 100% RODI water. (18 gallons of water)

gypsum 28 grams

calcium chloride 2 grams

non iodized salt 2 grams

roughly the below water profile below was used but i didn’t have the baking soda on hand.

http://terrencetheblack.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=14140&start=8

Recipe

10 lbs golden promise, 10 lbs American 2 row

2 lbs munich

2 lbs crystal (20l/40l blend)

1 lb carabils

Ibu of 35-43

Mashed at 150 to keep it dry

4.75 abv to 5.0 abv

I ran off too much sparge water and came out with an initial pre boil O.G. of 1.36 with an intended O.G. of 1.048. I intensified the boil and added 1.5-2 lbs of pure corn sugar to compensate. After a 90 minute buil my volume was low at 9-10 gallons but I hit the right initial O.G. after the boil and adjustment.

Cascade/centennial/pearl – blend of hops for each addition

1.048 O.G. – hard 90 minute boil

Pre boil og was 9 plato 1.036

2oz bitter (perle pellets)

2oz at 10 minutes (cascade flowers and chinook flowers 1 oz each)

2 cascade oz at flame out (hopback) and 1 oz chinook hopback

Whirlpool for 20

ibu of 43

predicted FG of 1.012.

FG came to 1.010.
There is significant hop haze in the beer. It appears clear when at room temp but the hop oils show when the beer is chilled. Incredible aroma from the hops. Citrus and pine with a deep hop flavor and aroma. The hop flavor is more prevalent then the aroma. Sierra Nevada mouthfeel. Dry, pleasing, effervesant. A touch of sugar alcohal warmth from the malt bill. Light bready flavor. Amber in color. A touch too dark (i thre 3 ounces of chocolate malt into the mash for color). Similar flavor profile to a smaller version of green flash. Amazing head retention with a white foam.

Pen and Ink on Cotton Rag Paper
16 inches by 30 inches

Pen and Ink on cotton rag paper.
3 feet by 2 feet.
Oil wash and Ink.

20 gallon brew to get 18 gallons to fermentation and about 15 into three kegs.
About 75% pale malt – 35 lbs
18% caramel – 2lb 20l, 3 lb 40l, 2lb 60l and 2lb 130l (caramunich and crystal 1 each) – 9lbs total
3% wheat (this – 1.5 lbs)
helps alot with mouth feel)
4-5% dark malts
(we use chocolate) – 2.5 lbs
48 lbs of grain total
4 oz cascade mash hop
3 oz first wort hop
5 oz aroma hop at whirlpool with a 10 minute whirlpool
8 tsp calcium chloride
2 tsb calcium carbonate
5 tsp gypsum
3 tsp yeast nutrient
O.G. of 1.064. The target O.G. was 1.066 so pretty darn close.

Yeast pitch temp was 85 degrees…hot weather outside…..and still dialing in cold pitching.

75 minute boil.
20 minute whirlpool.

ferment at 68. jump to 75 tops for diacyle rest. yeast range 63-75 – british ale yeast II – 12 gallons. F.G. at 5 days 1.016. Raised to 75 for two days – baby diaper smell from sulfer but good taste. First time using this yeast. Dropped to 60 for the time being. carbonated in keg with 1/3 cup of sugar..

One five gallon batch with chocolate essence.
A bit of roasty sourness. A bit of chocolate malt. balanced well with bitterness. could use a bit more dextrine as it’s a dark robust porter to match up to the roast flavor – Mash a touch hotter over 153 like 156 to pull out some more dextrin. Beer runs clear. Fermented well – perfect black and tan blend from the marmalade ale underneath. needs a touch more body. Would do really well like this if using the same recipe and lagering. clean. A bit of alcohol warmth but not too much. perhaps ferment a touch colder at 65 instead of 70. yeast sediment dropped out well. Perhaps less of the chocolate flavor if trying to lighten – or less roast. It’s not overpowering just not as sweet – full bodied as i would expect from the color. perhaps too much calcium carbonate is what’s making the slight sourness. The 5 gallon keg with the chocolate essence is the best. Mashing at a higher degree 157 or so would really help with the body on this beer.

saison 3711 yeast – 5 gallons – fermented inside around 85 degrees…3oz cascade dry hop after ferment. added 1/2 gallon of water. F.G. around 1.007 drier with spicy belgian phenols. This one i’ll let age a bit. not bad at 5 days but hotter in alcohol which dried out with time. Interesting yeast with the dark malt. almost like it would be an odd bomber type specialty beer for the unique flavor…we’ll see in time. Going to rack to warm secondary in a few days to clear out. added oak for one week….3 larger oak chips(teaspoon apiece). Finished dry, a touch sour, needs body, but more alcohol sweetness than the english yeast which is pleasant. Needs more body. The chocolate essence batch was the best.

History Class
2 feet by 3 feet.
100% cotton rag paper
About a week in primary.

Two works 3 feet by 2 feet. The Pen and Ink piece I have titled as “Dahl” it’s built from images from Roald Dahl and his work. I grew up on Dahl. I’m still growing up on Dahl.

The other piece is of a cat hunting a lizard. Pretty fun work. Lindsey gave me the idea. Let’s call it Meave.

2 feet by 1.5 feet on canvas rag paper. Oil paint with a white/red background over painted quickly with 3 colors. From tube to canvas in less than four hours. Happy with the results.

I’ve spent the last month working on the two painting below. They are both oil on white cotton rag paper – about 3.5 feet by 2 feet each, so larger which I love. Gives me a bit more canvas space to work with. I’m 99% done with these – I may add a dab o color here or there as the mood strikes but I’m at the point where I worry about messing them up more than I care to possible make them more complete. I’m happy with the results. It’s been fun to experiment with color layers and plot a bit more. Softer colors than usual which is also challenging.

13 Gallon brew day split into 8 and 5 gallon batches with separate yeast

33lbs 2 row malt american
3 lbs 20l
3 lbs 40l
1 lb 60l
O.G. 1.060
2oz of Cascade as Mash Hops (and boy do they come through in the flavor depth)
8 oz northern brewer hops. 4 oz at start of boil. 4 oz at whirlpool (15 minute whirlpool)
4 oz of cascade dry hop for the Orange Saison once most of the ferment was finished for 5 days.
5 teaspoons Burton water salts.
Mash target was 153

8 gallons fermented with dry S23 at 65 degrees F (rehydrated prior to pitching) Pitching temp was high (around 85 but dropped prior to ferment starting). Temp upped to 75 after 10 days to finish out. Flavor for the S23 is pure sweet marmalade, like jammy jelly,pure yeasty, sweet but not caramel…orange strong floral sweet…deep mouth-feel…lingering sticky sweetness…think cool September night when all things are happy…huge marmalade flavor..finish is bitter after a few minutes but not overpowering, thus beckoning another taste…..touch of vanilla. Would go well with cornbread and jelly. F.G. around 1.012. No hot alcohol or diacyle flavors.

Next steps would be to making the beer with a British yeast and to clear it out. Try and get some of the marmalade flavors but with a more flocculation positive yeast or better filtration. Serve with toast and jelly. Cut the caramel malt bill in half for the british version of this recipe for a strong ESB flavor.

5 gallons fermented with Belgian Saison 3711 from previous yeast cake at around 85 F.
Good with apple pie and cranberries.

The Belgian is smooth, well floral from the northern brewer hops. smooth to drink. Yeast flavor is fresh. Mouth-feel is full. No tannins or harsh flavors. More of a dirty IPA than pale ale or Saison. A bit o citrus on the nose. Really good alternate version of IPA. Golden in color and cloudy. Head lingers. Alcohol is not hot. Belgian is slightly orange, clearer/lighter..lacing of hops stays on the glass….dryer…fruitier in that one can taste the fruit from the yeast esters not the marmalade. More drinkable than the s23 version in that it’s a touch drier and the alcohol is well hidden. F.G. of 1.008. Full flavored silky mouthfeel with some belgian lacing. Probably a late night summer beer if a bit more clear. Brewing again, I would go lighter on the O.G. to the 1.045 range and add some wheat malt to the grist. A bit less phenols, a complex spice from the yeast, and a bit more sessionable at that O.G. Great yeast, but a bit too shown in this recipe. On second thought, a night later, add some oats say 7-10% grist but keep the rest of the recipe mostly the same, toss in 1/4lb of special B to darken color…adding a silkier mouthfeel and keeping the abv high at 6.5ish…..amazing complexity with the saison yeast and caramel and oats but low enough to keep the phenols down if fermented in 70′s. The darker oatmeal would accompany the caramel saison flavors well smoothing and rounding out the beer from good to superb.

Beers side by side.

Working on fleshing out some Oyster and Shitake mushrooms from plug dowel spawn and grain spawn.

I found a family tossing out some oak logs that were the perfect size, so I asked him if I could have them and he said yes. Sweet. Plugged about 50 dowels in each log and sealed the holes with beeswax to keep the moisture content up. It’ll be over a year to see how to the inoculation turned out.

I always have tons of spare spent grain laying around from brewing. Added some gypsum, some bloodmeal, and some lime to the grain after the mash tun. Once it cooled I added (hopefully enough) pink oyster mushroom spawn in some bags, and blue oyster spawn in the other bags.

Here is the inoculated logs and bags ready to spawn and flush out.

Salvaged some lumber from a rubish bin, added some homegrown compost halfway rotted in the bottom, and some store bought peat moss, compost, bark, top soil, vermiculite and herbs. This spot should get sun atleast 10 hours out of the day. Planning to grow some winter lettuce and a load of herbs, perhaps some heirloom tomatoes in the spring. Pretty stoked.

100% Cotton Rag Paper.
Roughly 20 inches by 16 inches.
Oil and Oil wash.

A construction of 5 masterpieces compiled from Neo Rauch and a recent visit to the NC Museum of Modern art. I collaged my favorite pieces from the visit – primarily the flowers, the fore figure and background figure, the abstract geometric lines on the flower vase and lastly the Rauch scene in the background of the patio figures, the golfer and the swordsman. Happy with the result. Busy colorful piece, but there is a lot going on to keep one’s attention.

Still working on the title.

8-9 Gallons
3 lbs red winter wheat
18 lbs 2 row
1lb 20l
1lb 40l
1.lb 60l
6 EKG first mash hop
4 oz Vanguard at start of boil
4 oz vanguard at whirlpool

Ferment with French Saison 3711 and Belgian tart wit yeast slurries. Kept yeast in the low 80′s and high 70′s. Mainly 78 during first few days. Let ride up to high 80′s to finish out and dry up after most of ferment was done.

O.G. of 1.046
F.G. of 1.008

Amazing at one month exactly 30 days out. White pepper finish. Strong flavorful yeast (beer flavor with a bit o tart and a bit of orangy sweetness upfront from the yeast). Full mouth-feel but dry, cloudy color at first but bright at 6 weeks. Pinky size of head which remains to last sip. Slight Alcohol warmth accentuated by the dry finish.

Don’t change this recipe – simply AMAZING fresh. This yeast strain and hop combination are very satisfying.

9-7-11 – after 6 weeks – the hops are not as soft. Perhaps balance out if ageing longer with more malt sweetness (caramel malts) or less bittering hops (1/3 reduction). Amazing fresh, a bit harsh hop character for the light style (not meant to be an IPA) after some ageing. Perhaps to balance out the hops add more darker crystal such as 120 or lower the abv for a better more complete fuller yeasty mouthfeel.

Gonna be farming with worms – Vermicomposting. Two layer structure with a lid that pulls off and a body that splits in half to separate the worms from the compost. Roughly 3 feet tall and two feet wide. Chicken wire seperates the layers and allows for drainage at the bottom. Pretty excited to have built a proper worm bin for some red wrigglers. Garden prep for our victory garden.

I moved to Baton Rouge about two months ago – June 28th, 2011. Since then I have been on a mission organizing our small house. In Durham, I became very fond of modular shelving. It can be moved to suit the purposes of any space. Since moving to BR, we have minimal storage space, so I set out to build some new shelving; not just any shelving though, fun, colorful and functional shelving that complimented the furniture that we already had. I’ve build around 9 of these modular shelves since moving, consisting of various colors and of roughly the same dimensions, albeit some are a step taller or shorter based on our needs.

I’ve also been busy construction flats – fake walls to hide my tool collection in our thousand foot rental. I use the walls to divide our living room, hide the tools and as a working canvas for my current paintings. I’m pretty happy to have a painting space. This way I don’t have to worry about ruining the walls of the rental. I have to be a bit careful with the floor of course though, so we’ve added a rug underneath to collect paint drippings.

Lastly, I bought what I consider to be an excellent piece of whole wood entryway table. My guess is that it was used in a church to hold ornaments of religion or communion artifacts. I resurfaced the top with stained wood to match the bookshelves and smoothed it out and protected with varnish so that one could set cold drinks down.

Lots of work going on in Baton Rouge.

Amarillo IPA
10 Gallons
150 degree mash temperature
8 ounce Cascade Hops at 60 minutes
8 ounce Centennial Hops at flameout
8 ounce Amirillo dry Hop after 10 days fermentation
O.G. of 1.060
Fermentation with dry California Ale yeast – started high for the first day at 85 degrees and reduced to 65-75 after fridge started working. Let temperatures rise into the high 80′s once 80% of ferment is done.

25 lbs pale 2 row malt
3 lbs 10l/20l roasted malt
F.G. of 1.010
ABV around 5.5 to 6.0

Flavor is clear, intensely herbal (grapefruit from the Amarillo and orange). I love this hop as a dry hop – full flavor. Mix of an IPA pale ale in the west coast sense. Medium body. Palate cleansing. Small white lacing on glass. Not much of a head. I like the hop flavor coming on the front not in bitterness but in flavor. Good late summer or early spring beer. A bit full flavored for 100 degree days outside.

Basil ESB – 3.5 GallonsO.G. 1.044
8 lbs of 2 row malt
1 lb of 20l
1 oz basil at flameout
2 oz ekg 1 at 60 minutes and 1 at 15 minutes to ibu around 31.
Long hard boil to get the O.G. to the right gravity thus lots of caramalization.
F.G. after 5 days 1.012

Flavor was a bit caramilized at first. Reminicsent of a cherry/old aged ale. Tawny red color. Basil flavor is present but not dominant. Crisp slightly acidic flavor. Good hop balance, more in bitterness than hop flavor. Saaz like, noble hop flavor is present. Good lasting head perhaps from the darker malts present. If brewed again, change the yeast to a more flavorfull saison yeast to match the basil and lighten up the malt profile.

100% pen and ink on 100% cotton rag paper.
Size is 30 by 20ish.
I built this up over the last week. Happy with the results and inspired to work more in the people forms on a broader scale.

I moved to Baton Rouge about two weeks ago. One of the art items that I’ve had dangling in the back of my head for probably two years was to produce a sculpture of an apple in the resemblance of a human female. Not sure why I had this motivation, but that’s not really the point – the point being to move from concept to production. Starting with a less ambitious approach I produced my idea on paper first. The results are below – produced in oil roughly 30 inches by 20 inches on 100% cotton rag paper. I painted this in about 3-4 layers over the course of a day. Only time will tell if I’ll have the desire to make one out of stone.

About Cima:

Cima Rahmankhah was born and raised in Iran. In 2000 she moved to the United States. She is currently working towards an MFA at Art Center College of Design in Los Angeles.

Rahmankhah works in various media, including painting, installation, video. Her work deals with stigmas, explores the aesthetics of power, and finally compares the ways in which power structures differ from culture to culture.

Her work has been shown in the United States and abroad, and was featured in the latest issue of New American Paintings.

Pen and ink work by D.B. Williams
Cotton Rag Paper
30 by 24 inches

I have been working on a new short story. It’s raw, awkward, reflective, allegorical – a summary of characters from the last few years mingled with the thoughts that kept me up laughing awake at night. I like to think ”Fantastic Mr. Fox” or ”The Twits” goes adult bed time story. There is a free pdf version below and a link to hulu publishing as it won’t show up on Amazon for a few more weeks.

The Wondrous Adventures of the Sergeant Peppers Noggins Platoon.

The Wondrous Adventures of the Sergeant Peppers Noggins Platoon Download

About Christopher:

Born in 1979 in riverside California, Christopher studied art, design, and film at UCLA and graduated in 2003. There, he absorbed the acute attention to color and form associated with Vasa Mihich’s sculpture and paintings, subsequently refining his own visual and conceptual vocabulary that emerged through his focus on large-scale allegorical paintings which Utilize the female form and the emotional afflictions of posture and stance, Cuseo,s paintings reflect personal memories he has had to address during the realization of his artistic process. His cinematic style creates a strong sense of familiarity allowing the viewer to embark on their own personal journey, evoking those raw emotions that inevitably get buried with memories of the past.

Christopher’s work can be found in public and private art collections both in the United States and abroad.. He currently lives and works in Los Angeles, New York, and Sydney.

About Jessica:

Jessica Drenk was raised in Montana, where she developed an appreciation for the natural world that remains an important inspiration to her artwork today. Tactile and textural, her sculptures highlight the chaos and beauty that can be found in simple materials. Drenk’s work is also influenced by systems of information and the impulse to develop an encyclopedic understanding of the world.

In 2006, Drenk was awarded the International Sculpture Center’s Outstanding Student Achievement in Contemporary Sculpture Award. Her work has been pictured in Sculpture Magazine and seen in shows at the International Grounds for Sculpture in New Jersey, the Albuquerque Museum, the Tucson Museum of Art, the International Book Fair of Contemporary Creative Books in Marseilles, France, as well as galleries across the United States.

In 2009, Drenk received an Artist Project Grant from the Arizona Commission on the Arts, funding the installation of Archaeologica: A Museum of the Disposable at the Mesa Arts Center in Mesa, Arizona. In 2010 her work was featured in shows at Conrad Wilde Gallery in Tucson, Catherine Person Gallery in Seattle, and Aqua Art Miami contemporary art fair in Miami Beach. In 2011 Drenk is also exhibiting at Cain Schulte Gallery in San Francisco.

Drenk has an MFA from the University of Arizona, graduated Cum Laude from Pomona College, and is a member of the Phi Beta Kappa academic honor society.

About Zhang:

Zhang Huan is a Chinese artist based in Shanghai and New York. He made his BA at the He Nan University in Kai Feng (1988) and his MA at the China Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing (1993). He is primarily a performance artist but also makes photographs and sculpture.

Zhang Huan began his work as part of a small artistic community, known as the Beijing East Village, located on the margins of the city. The group of friends from art school pioneered this particular brand of performance in China and Zhang was often reprimanded by officials for the perceived inappropriateness of his actions.

By using quasi-religious ritual, he seeks to discover the point at which the spiritual can manifest via the corporeal. He uses simple repetitive gestures, usually regarded as meaningless work-for-work’s-sake chores. Buddhism, with its temple music, sculptures and philosophy are a prevalent theme in Zhang Huan’s work.

2 feet by 3 feet. Watercolor pen and ink wash. Titled – Addiction Trifecta

Recipe – 8 gallon batch

5 lbs malted wheat

5 lbs rolled wheat

10 lbs 2 row

2 oz EKG hops for bitter

2 oz EKG dry hop

Hefeweizen dry yeast strain

O.G. 1.056 around 14 balling.

1 hour boil, mash temp was 30 minutes right around 130 a bit too high for protein rest, then one hour at 157.  I added beano during the mash to account for any denatured enzymes from the slightly high mash temp then expected. The mash temp jumped up to 165 for a 15 minute when I first added additional water..

The batch fermented out very quickly – less than 3 days to 1.016.  I thought there was a problem, but it appears like airlock wasn’t tight or there was a leak in the rubber valve.  Taste really clean at 3 days – no off flavors and color looks perfect pale straw cloudy gold

5 gallons remained alone. Dry hopped with the EKG. Remained in secondary fermentor for over a month.

3 gallons mixed with a gallon of baltic porter.  Kegged after one month. brownish red color.

The beer yeast has a definite cervesa flavor crisp beer flavor. Beer is mostly clear after one month.

. The mixed batch was uninteresting and not true to style. The darker malts from the blend did not mingle well.

The five gallons of unmixed wheat beer at 2 months are clear, reminiscent of a drier blue moon, with a bit of spice, low hop levels, and dryness. The head is white and remains at 1/2 inch throughout the glass. This recipe is a great summer session beer. There is a bit of alcohol warmth which is probably from the higher ferment temp or higher final gravity 1.010. No detectable off flavors and true to style guidelines.

Ilana on her work:

I capture the unexpected vibrancy of hidden landscapes. I celebrate the weedy margins of swamp and woods – a world of unfurling fronds, floating leaves, elusive reflections, and the mysterious interplay of lightness and depth. My large-scale oil paintings arise from the patience and close observation I developed during my training as a naturalist; I contemplate minute details and allow them to reveal larger patterns in nature. In essence, I am looking at the small to make sense of larger truths.

I build up the surfaces of my work with rich color and translucent layers, then selectively scratch and sand to create a dimensional experience of luminosity, line and texture. Through this process, I fuse elements of both painting and printmaking traditions to uncover the spirit of place beneath the merely visual, leaving hints of what came before. My paintings, both as object and as image become a metaphor for change, for the connection between seasonal transience and the mystical stillness at its center.

About Noma: Noma Bliss is greatly concerned with global issues. World hunger, pollution, depletion of natural resources, the deterioration of the family unit, global warming—these and more issues are incorporated in her work Bliss attributes her figurative and simplistic style to her 25 years spent as a professional illustrator and designer. Her aim as an artist is to invoke love, kindness, compassion, and empathy for one another and the world we inhabit. ‘We are all responsible for the future of our planet,’ she remarks. Working in collaboration with her husband, Jim Bliss, her client list includes The London Times, Architecture Las Vegas, and Bike Magazine, among many other publications.

24 inches by 16 inches
Pen and Ink
Brown ink on Brown Rag Paper

This one took awhile to complete. There are thousands if not hundreds of thousands of tiny hash marks used to compose this picture all of one color ink. Two days or so of work. I had the time – surgery and hence a week in bed off of running.

These oil paintings on cotton rag paper are 3 feet by 2 feet. The computer study work for their preparation can be seen a few posts down. I drew the images in pen and ink and filled in color blobs with oil/turpentine and pigment. Each took around 5 hours of prep time and 10 hours of painting/drawing. I’ll make more like these. I like the negative space style.

[Show as slideshow]

[View with PicLens]

Bird paintings by me.

About Tim:

Tim Clorius was born and raised in Heidelberg, Germany. He studied fine arts and painting at the School of Visual Arts in New York and the Maine College of Art in Portland.

Influenced by his love for graffiti and his aerosol artist alter ego SUBONE, Clorius brings a postmodern sensibility to his work. His primary aim is to explore potentials or boundaries of fine art and graffiti art.

Working with students in Maine since 2002, SUBONE has become synonymous with the advocacy of the potentials graffiti art there. For him, graffiti is not only an art form but also a means to enhance communities and foster civic engagement.

“Breached Umbrella” 2011 by D.B. Williams

“Flock of Paper Cranes” February 2011 D.B. Williams

About Shaun: Shaun Ferguson received a BFA from University of Trent in Nottingham in 1985 and a postgraduate in painting from Royal Academy of Arts in 1988. He is inspired by models in quiet, contemplative moods. Although conventional in composition, his portraits are instilled with a strong sense of energy and tension. Ferguson’s work has been exhibited extensively across the UK and featured in numerous publications. It has been awarded the 1989 Henry Wyndham Prize and the 1988 Elizabeth Greenshields Award, among others.

Marzen/American Brown Recipe

Brew day was 12-20-10 with a 15 gallon batch.  Kegged and Carbed by 2-10-11, thus well filtered and clear by serving date.
Recipe

• 26 lbs Munich Malt

• 1lb 2 row

• 1lb rolled oats

• 1/2 sugar

• 1/2 lb black malt

• 4 oz magnum bitter hop for 70 minute boil

• 8 oz saaz at flameout lasting 30 minutes contact time while the wort cooled through the counter flow chiller.

• California lager yeast and California ale yeast blend.  The California lager/Ale yeast died due to cold ferment temps (40 degrees).  Fermentation stopped around 1.030 so I re-pitched a liquid German Bock Yeast.  The yeast was initially pitched at 65 degrees, but due to the alcohol environment, I upped the temperature to low 80′s in order to stimulate the newly added yeast when I noticed that the second fermentation wasn’t starting after two days. Mash out occurred on the low side due to colder outside temperatures thus I only hit 145 or so.  The beer is dry with minimal body so this is noticeable.  Not bad because it makes drink-ability high.  O.G. was13 plato.  F.G. was 1.016.
• Flavor is of roasted caramel, toffee, liquid bread. There is a slight malt sweetness. A good crisp hop bitterness in the finish.  Earthy, spicy and floral hop aroma.  Yellow/Gold rich hop/malt blend middle ground with a bit of acidic bite probably from the dark malts and lower mash temperature.The hop level is balanced more on the hop side, not on the malt side.  It’s not a bock, more like an American Brown Mild with a good rich hop flavor.  If I made this again, perhaps add a bit more body, maybe a hint of chocolate malt or roasted barley or a blend of caramel malt with some kettle hops for better balance with the malt.
• 

About Anne and Robert:

Anne Moran and Robert Brown are a creative team living in Wilmington, North Carolina.

They are best known for abstract wall sculptures. Their work contains a wide range of rich colors, achieved by torching sheets of copper. Spontaneity directs the creation process, according to Moran and Brown. They pride themselves in utilizing the reflective quality of metal alongside oxidized pigments, to original effect.

The team have been commissioned by hotels, financial institutions, and medical facilities across the United States. Most recent is a large installation behind the reception desk of the Setai Hotel in New York City.

2 hours or so apiece of work and a reminder of photoshop.  I built up layers to be used as inspiration during the painting process.

[Show as slideshow]

[View with PicLens]

I have been working on a series of mythology edition prints for roughly the last month.  The process chosen involved reduction linocut where by a single block was reduced through four layers to produce the below images.  Daphne’s father transforms her into a tree as Apollo attempts to take her for his lover.  The images are 8 by 10 inches and were produced using watercolor inks and block printing paper.  I made four editions each  of a separate color ranging from edition sizes of 30 to 76.

20 Gallon Recipe – I came out with about 17-18.

50 lbs 2 row

1 lb 20l

1lb dextrin malt

8 oz magnum hop bittering and First wort – one ounce at start of boil, and one once at t30 minutes.

8 0z pearl flavor – one half addition at 15 minutes and one half at flameout each of one ounce

EKG – aroma dry hopping after fermentation.

Total calculated IBU is 133 plus BU:GU 2.29

SA04

predicted O.G. 1.058 = came out to 1.062-1.064 or so, around 18 gallons not 20

strike water 28.2 quartz ie: 14 gallons at 177 degrees

sparge 22 gallons at 165-170 degrees

mash at 153 or as close as possible – about perfect i hit 153-155 so may be a bit higher in dextrins

taken off lees on 2-23-11 and added saaz

Initial flavor at one month 3-7-11.

Hop showcase on a malt backbone.  Well balanced, more on the full bodied side than the light and dry side which works well with the bitterness. Not too sweat just meaty.  Resinous.

Citrus fruit, pineapple, grapefruit, bitter on the back middle, turning into crusty orange bread, banana bread, tropical passion earthy spicy hop up front flavor. Drinkibility is high. This will put you to sleep as it is a lupinin bomb.  Perhaps convert some of the bitter hops to flavor hops to reduce overall  Really good IPA at 1 month.

F.G. of 1.018 or so.

Hops overshadow the grain at 4-15-11

Hoppiness more upfront of tongue, dry but not crisp, more mucky foggy hoppiness like west coast dryhop but not enough complexity. I want it to be drier, either higher F.G. or less hop to accentuate the grain more for balance. ok to drink but not terribly complex or satisfying. opaguefoap upon pouring and a glaze of hop on glass swirls after the sip. cloudy orange juice light golden color. good 1 inch head of white

About Mary Lou:

Mary Lou Zelazny was born in Chicago. She moved to California for college, but completed her study nearer home, receiving a BFA from the School of the Art Institute.

She has made collage paintings for twenty years. Blending spontaneity of collage with the rigor of painting and drawing, she creates multiple meanings in an improvised way. This unpredictable work mothod appeals to her because of the technical challenges it presents. ‘The fusion of photographic images and paint generates tensions within the vocabulary of picture making,’ she explains.

Zelazny sorts her work under separate headings—bodies of work dating back to the early 1980s. Some themes or motifs are recurrent, having been revisited or modified over the course of time, she says, but each period is distinct.

Black Jack Clone Porter (Baltic) Recipe

15 gallons

25 lbs munich, 2 lbs 40L, 2lbs 80l, 2 lbs 60L, 1 lb wheat (body), 3/4lb chocolate, 1lb black malt debittered

4oz EKG – an ounce as a first wort hop and the rest as Flavor hops
4oz Magnum – bitter hop at beginning of boil
4oz dry hop aroma EKG – Thrown in at the end of boil
mash at 148 was the goal but I was closer to 145.
O.G. of 1.064

This beer was divided into two  6 gallon batches with the remaining few gallons diverted to top off other fermenting beers.  I dropped the entire cooled batch on a very large anchor steam style yeast bed which wasn’t washed – yeah I know – lazy.  This wouldn’t have been a problem regarding a quick fermentation due to the massive amount of yeast, except that the temps in my basement dropped to 40 below for two weeks straight.  The yeast stalled out at an F.G. of 1.040.  Plenty of milkshake sweetness left in there.  So, I chalked it up to being gone over the holidays and recesitated the batches by pitching two different kinds of lager yeast and fermenting those warm in the high 60′s and low 70′s.  At those temps there wasn’t much diacyle (butter flavor) left over but I did run the risk of a high ester count, warm alcohol flavors, and vinegar flavors from the extended ferment.  Three weeks has passed since brew day and I still had plenty of sugar in the batch to be eaten up by the yeast.  I pitched a lot of yeast, two packets of lager yeast per 6 gallon batch because the yeast were going to have to fight against an already Alcohol tempered environment.  One keg was pitched with Saflager 34//70 and the other was pitched with the saflager S23 strain.  Both completed their final gravity reading in the 1.018 range.  I would imagine they could have gotten lower, but I rushed them from primary to kegging seeing as I had run out of any other kegs.  I allowed them to “lager” after gelatin fining for two weeks before carbonating with C02.

The remainder of the beer that wasn’t kegged was back mixed with a marzen brew recipe that I have coming along which I’ll review in a later post.

saflager s23

The head  is minimal, in that it lingers with lacing on the glass but does not fluff up as much as say a weizen beer would.  Pools of co2 coagulate on the surface as they would on many lager type beers, but with a tad more retention perhaps due the wheat and remaining un-fermentables.  The nose is of noble hops – juicy, flavorful but delicate – less hop bomp and more hop elegance.  You can taste the EKG hops which balance nicely the dark chocolate and dark de bittered malt.  Bitterness is present but not overpowering, just enough to cut through the sweetness.  This is a medium to medium heavy beer along the lines of a robust porter in build with a bit more cleanness – only a touch though from the drying lager yeast.  Flavor after two months, with two weeks of cellaring is chocolate, brown dark malt, winter bread, a touch of green apple spice probably from the longer fermentation, a warming alcohal finish, and a lingering but dry finish.  The finish is nice and at around 6-6.2% abv this beer has good drinkibility.  It’s a great wintertime lineup brew – Late December and early January time frame.

saflager 34/70

This one is a tad darker in color and a tad richer in flavor.  I blended back in some 1.080 caramel malt brews with this one to top off the keg which could account for that difference.  In ferment the beer was more acidic tasting but has since mellowed substantially.  Dark malts can have that flavor profile, but I feared infection at first – fortunately not so.  This yeast is creamier, softer and less green in flavor.  It also has a bit more of that traditional lager character profile.  I like both yeast, so if I wanted a beer more on the baltic porter end in this style I would use this yeast, and if I wanted one more on the robust porter style i would use the Safale S23.

[Show as slideshow]

[View with PicLens]

18 by 20 Inches

Reduction print series of Twelve

Arches 190 lb Acid Free Printmaking Paper

Not much on this post other than photos of Marzen brews from late 2010 that I never got around to posting.  These cleared out, but from memory took some time for the yeast to flocculate fully.

About Gail:

Gail Dawson received her M.F.A. from the University of Texas at Austin in 2000 and taught as a Lecturer there and at Texas State University for two years. She has received grants from the Dallas Museum of Art and the City of Austin; had solo and several two person shows; and has been included in curated group shows in Austin, Dallas, San Antonio, and Houston, Texas.

In Fall 2003, Gail began a tenure-track appointment to teach painting and new media at San Francisco State University, where she is also developing a digital media lab for the painting area. Dawson’s work explores the interference of media with images, and time and motion. She works between mediums translating video to paintings and drawings, and paintings and drawings to video.

Check out this set of five predatory cyborg furniture by James Auger, Jimmy Loizeau and Alex Zivanovic.

(The coffee table mousetrap robot. Photo courtesy of James Auger, Jimmy Loizeau and Alex Zivanovic.)

There’s the mousetrap coffee table. By placing crumbs on top, perhaps left there during a canape-laden soiree, mice are attracted to climb up the hole in its over size leg. When sensors detect that a mouse is standing on the trapdoor in the center, this door opens, and the mouse falls into a microbial fuel cell housed under the table where it gets digested and converted into energy to power the sensors and trapdoor.

Two kinds of infestation battling it out here: conspicuous consumption and vermins. And since there might be hundreds of rats hiding behind the walls, we really shouldn’t feel sorry for the rats decomposing in the table’s innards.

Meanwhile, there’s also the fly-paper clock, which is powered by insects captured on its flypaper roller and digested by its own microbial fuel cell.

(The flypaper robotic clock. Photo courtesy of James Auger, Jimmy Loizeau and Alex Zivanovic.)

(The flypaper robotic clock. Photo courtesy of James Auger, Jimmy Loizeau and Alex Zivanovic.)

Another one is the fly stealing objet d’art, which you could hang on that central space on your wall reserved for an LCD jumbotron or a flea market-bought watercolor. Like the rest, this, too, is powered by a microbial fuel cell, which churns up dead flies picked up from a web spun by its resident spiders.

One wonders if, rather than bringing spiders to it, you could just bring it to the spiders, at whichever corner of the house they may be. In other words, you’ll have an excuse to rearrange or even refurnish your entire living room to match the relocated mobile. Domestic boredom feeding on itself.

(The fly stealing robot. Photo courtesy of James Auger, Jimmy Loizeau and Alex Zivanovic.)

One also wonders about trapping larger preys that intrude the domestic sphere, like wildcats and alligators that regularly stumble into the backyard of houses abutting their home range? In such cases, one could turn swimming pools into carnivorous, pitcher plants. When a coyote climbs down to drink from its shallow water, it closes its tarp cover and drains the water along with the animal down to its microbial fuel cell. While this pool provide a similar form of dark entertainment as its interior counterparts, it ensures a more basic domestic need: a bubble of habitability amid the wilderness.

As as protection against the feral, augmented trees snatch avian flu-infected birds using their cyborg branches.

About Chris:

Chris Bowman was born in Calgary, Canada, in 1981. He received no formal art education, but the nine years he spent in Wardorf education is relevant to understanding his artistic practice.

His paintings are strongly influenced by his interest in organic matter and the laws of nature, and range from representation beauty and safety to unsettling eeriness and anxiety.

‘The structures I paint are developed in the way life is,’ says Bowmen, ‘by mixing sunlight with water and air, sparking a moment of genesis.’ He invites the viewer to interpret his work both as a cerebral process and in a chemical sense.

Bowman devotes his free time to travelling, in a mostly improvised way, around North America, Europe and Asia. He also enjoys photography. ‘I don’t necessarily do anything with the photos, I just enjoy the process,’ he says.

[Show as slideshow]

[View with PicLens]

I have been working over the last few weeks on creating a few more of my treescape series on stainless steel.  The process started with a trip to the metal recyclers in Durham J&R recyclers off of Cheek Road.  I purchased about 50 dollars worth of 18 and 24 guage steel.  I sanded the steel scraps which varied in size most being around 1/2 to 1 square foot in size using a rotary sander with a 120 grit sandpaper to wear through the thin chromium protection layer.  I then placed tape over where i wanted the tree forms to remain, and painted the sheets with acid concrete color – in other words metalic salts which eat away at and react with the iron in the metal.  After a few hours, I pulled up the tape and begin to paint on the layers of leaves using oil and enamel paint.  I let all of this dry and followed it up with numerous coats of spar varnum and damar varnish to hold it all in.  I’ve made a few of these before and always been happy with the random results of the acid staining.  These works are no exception.  I’ll make more.

[Show as slideshow]

[View with PicLens]

18 by 24 inches

Edition of 18

Hand Pulled Reduction Linocuts by D.B. Williams on Arches 190lb Watercolor Paper

[Show as slideshow]

[View with PicLens]

Edition of Nine Wavy sunflowers

16 inches by 18 inches

Arches Watercolor 190 lb paper.

Each is unique cut from linoleum using reduction print processes.  I made these using the below image as  reference point.

[Show as slideshow]

[View with PicLens]

1234►

Old photos of my Brother Doug that I cleaned up and scanned last Christmas as a present.

[Show as slideshow]

[View with PicLens]

A few shots with Lindsey’s new SLR.  Playing with color and lightroom.

About Karim:

Karim Hamid was born on 31 July, 1966. He received a BFA from Brighton University in 1990 and an MFA from San Francisco Art Institute four years later.

Hamid’s concepts are based on the visual dialogue between representations of the female figure and the male gaze throughout (art) history. The distortion and exaggeration of the human body are his attempt to reinvent the female form and a reproach of an onslaught of media superficiality that promotes idealization and objectification of women, he explains.

Using unspecified found imagery and paint, Hamid endeavours to capture the psychological state of his subject in an honest and truthful manner, which he refers to as ‘broader composure’. His work has been exhibited across Europe and the United States.

About Adrian:

The initial intention of this work is to demand attention of a room. The juxtaposition of large flat shapes with the figure creates dynamic compositions. Color is key in these compositions. Depth is created in the color through texture and the layering of harmonious color combinations.

These paintings have an immediacy because of their simplicity. This allows the viewer to interact and become part of the work. I am interested in this relationship. Whether it is through the subtle tension of two figures on the canvas, or the dialogue of a single figure with its environment, the paintings create a relationship with the viewer. The painting becomes a proxy for their present condition. This way, the viewer can create specifics to my generalities and a continual relationship is formed.

Marzen Recipe (10 gallons) – 10/31-10

27 lbs munich light malt

4 oz Yakima Valley Magnum

4 oz EKG – with 2 at flame out

1 oz fuggle first wort hop

low 150 mash temps

O.G. of 1.65 – 10/31/10 – 1 batch California lager yeast and 1 batch California ale yeast. – lager yeast version moved to keg at 1.020 very clean on 11/28.  Ale yeast version still clarifying after one month.  I added some of the saison 1/2 gallon or so to the California yeast version to fill out the keg. California yeast still clarifying 11/29/10.  Lager version kegged, cleared and done fermenting by 12/1/10.  Lager yeast version is spectacular with notes of velvety smooth malt and subtle hop backbone – it is like a bock beer but with a bit less malt flare.  The ale yeast version is a bit young by 12/15/10 and will do well by a bit of cold laggering.  The Lager yeast version should be a stable recipe for me during the October time-frame.  It is earthy, hearty, not too alcoholic with a smooth, mellow yet flavor-full taste and mouth-feel.  The ale yeast version taste as a belgian (orval but a bit less subdued) due to the brett blending from the saison.

1 gallon -  12 lbs of Dark Mountain Honey

3 lbs of wild tart Muscat grapes picked fresh and fermented on the skin until nothing remained but skin and pulp

Saison/Wit Beer Yeast

O.G. 1.090

F.G. below 1.0000

The color is similar to a rose champagne or sparkling wine with hints of red gleaming through the bottle.  I would imagine that with time, and I’ll let this one or at least a few bottles of it age for a couple of years that the color will tarnish and move more towards the muted chardonnay color spectrum.  The fermentation was on the cooler side for this yeast strain hovering around the 75-80F mark.  ½ oz of Juniper berries were added near the end of secondary fermentation and left in the carboy for a period of two weeks.  The nose was of intense fruit (juicy fruit esters) and conifer berries during fermentation.  The flavor after two weeks of bottling is pronounced and young, not overpowering or harsh but it is forward tasting in that it would pair well with spicy pork chops.  It’s more similar to a spiced mineral heavy German white than it is a chardonnay however in time I think that the tenacity of the juniper berries and esters may fade into a wonderful mellowness.

Four months post production and the mead has settled into a clear, bright, balanced drink.  No legs are present in the glass.  The flavor is similar to an un-oaked chardonnay Riesling blend.  The flavor of the honey shines through.  There is a touch of alcohol hotness similar to a zinfandale, most likely originating from the muscat tannins.  I would make this again, or a variation of it that is.  The key being the depth of aging.

[Show as slideshow]

[View with PicLens]

New York Skyline

I have been working on these for the last 2 months.  Lots of evenings carving linoleum and stamping ink on 300lb paper.  I’m happy with the result and intend to produce more in a similar manner.  This is a limited edition release with only 10 stampings.  Doug, my brother wanted 1 of the 10 so there are only nine left at this point.  If you are interested, they’ll be on etsy for sale.

18 inches by 48 inches

Grain Bill – 10 Gallons

10 lbs of standard 2 row
10 lbs of Marris Otter floor malted
1 lb of biscuit
2 lbs of 60l
1 lb of 80l

Mash temp of 150, then 160 and MO at 168 – wort was sweet and dark not thin

columbous hops 1 oz mash hopping
1 oz columbous at 2 hour boil
3 oz of EKG at 30 min
2 oz of EKG at 20 min
3 oz of EKG at Boil out

O.G. of 1.080

F.G. of 1.010

One 5 gallon batch was fermented with California ale yeast.  This batch was rich, tangy with fruit aroma, some banana phenols at first which mellowed with age.  Full bodied and rich which one would expect for an ESB.  The EKG hops were strong at first fading to subdued by the end of the keg. Chewy fuit like hop aroma.  Golden Roibees tea like color.  More on the English malty side than the dryIPA side.

One 5 gallon batch was fermented with Wit yeast and .5 oz of juniper berries and 1 gallon of pyment. This batch turned out to be a tosser.  The fermentation was long and slow. Soap development occurred with the dead yeast due to 6 weeks in primary.  I won’t brew this again, but learning is all part of the process.

Artist: Pete Watts

Website: http://www.petewatts.net/

Pete Watts (born 1984, Vermont) is an artist based in New York. He graduated in 2006 with a BFA in Printmaking from the Rhode Island School of Design. In exploring humanity’s relationship with the natural world, his work depicts both the myriad technological systems essential to modern existence, and the temporal, elemental, and entropic forces that place these systems under a state of constant threat. Rendered in painstaking detail, and left unframed, the vulnerability of works themselves mirror the fragile equilibrium sustaining human life on the planet.

Artist: Heather Neill

Website: http://www.heatherneill.com/

My easel has been set up in every one of the 26 places I have lived so far. By the time I decided to give painting my full time efforts, I was well into my early forties. Those early decades of incubation have brought a sharper focus to the only formal training I received as an art major in college back in the mid-70′s.

The paintings have been described by some as narrative. I do enjoy a good storyteller, but I begin by listening to the subject itself. Studying, in ever deepening detail, the nature of an object. I learn from its bones and scars what stories it has to tell. Then I try to tease out the intersections of beauty and mystery between artist, subject and viewer…and hopefully weave some whimsy in between the brushstrokes.

Most of the objects in my still lifes are discarded, well used and worn, common and familiar, and, like the patina on my Aunt Imy’s old porcelain teacups, they resonate with the spirits of all the hands which have used and passed them along …and the conversations they each have overheard. The interiors, portraits and landscapes have histories as well. I invite the viewer to come close and explore the detail and, just as the characters are revealed and the interior brought into focus, a shadow appears in the wake of someone who has moved through a room, or a mysterious light glows from within a vessel and pauses your glance…and you are full of new questions.

Grain Bill for 10 Gallons

10 lbs of munich malt

10 lbs pale ale 2 row malt

1 lb of biscuit

1 lb of 60l

1 lb of 80l

2 oz of Columbus hops added at beginning of boil per five gallon batch

2 oz of fuggle hops at 20 minutes per five gallon batch

1 oz of EKG at 5 minutes per five gallon batch

2 oz dry hop EKG for the Lager Yeast batch

Stepped Mash at 130F, 155F to 168F Mash out – Long Boil around 2hrs

O.G. of 1.050

IBU around 68

F.G. of 1.010 – 1.012

5 gallons fermented with California Lager Yeast

This batch took easily twice as long as the batch brewed with Ale yeast.  Fermentation was cool around 40-55 degrees being conducted for the first month in a fridge and later when the outside temps dropped moved to a cooler basement where the temps hung around 65.  I brought the strain out for 2-3 days, to allow the baby diaper smells to disappate by pushing the fermentation temps up to 75 and letting the yeast clean up any of the fermentation byproducts.  Simply put, this beer is amazing, perhaps the best i’ve ever made and the recipe should not be touched.

Lacing stays on the glass but is minimal.  Flavors of black current, toffee, chocolate and caramel.  Flavors of purple and clay.  The aroma is low but pleasent.  There is a slight sweet finish but it is perfectly balanced.  The sweetness is from the unconvertable higher kilned malt, not from maltodextrin residue, so it’s more a perception than an actual taste.  This is a rich, crisp, beer which would cut through a gravy laden cut of meat, but also pair well with a bag of flavorful potato chips.  This is a hoppy beer, but not bitter hoppy, more rich floral laden hoppy.  The hops accent the rich malt character rather than detract from it.  The color is dark, with a deep red hue when held to a glass.

5 gallons fermented with California Ale Yeast

Simply Incredible.  This is the first brew recipe I have created that I would leave unchanged in its original formulation.  Temps of ale yeast averaged between 78 degrees down to 68 degrees nearing the end of fermentation.  The taste is dry with a flavor distinctly reminiscent of sierra nevada flavor profile which is odd as there are no Cascade hops present.  The flavor rich, nutty, and malty.  The color is a touch lighter than a black forest but equally as clear when held up to a light. There are no raspberry flavors from tannins present, with more of a dark malt backbone present perhaps owing to the higher grist ration of Munich malt and slightly higher mash temps than previous versions.  The Ale used a high pitching rate being thrown on a previous five gallon’s yeast cake, thus attenuation occured quickly with a final gravity under 1.01 around 1.08.  The finish is reminiscent of dry cracked bread, with a fully balanced hop bitterness.  Sharp flavor, which perfectly matches the color of the beer.  The hop balance is perfectly in tune with the malt backbone.  It’s an ale with a kick but with the smoothness of a full bodied lager even though an ale yeast was used.  The finish lingers of citrus hops.

Artist: Joseph Todorovitch

Website: http://onejoseph.com

Joseph Todorovitch is a young contemporary painter who has developed a reputation for his highly representational figure paintings. Growing up in Southern California, he became interested in traditional drawing and painting at an early age. His training introduced him to many artistic influences including notable ateliers and instructors.

His work is a culmination of these forces with a deep respect for the knowledge and sensitivities of the past. Joseph has been able to sift through the vast amount of information, be selective, and utilize what’s necessary to achieve an impact that speaks about a personal experience with his subjects. His paintings emote, and convey a care and sensitivity that is reminiscent of the naturalist painters of the 19th century. Utilizing subtle value and temperature shifts, fine draughtsmanship, and pure intuition, Joseph weaves a world of breathable air and psychological nuance in his work.

Artist: Ingra Haraldson

Website: http://www.ingriharaldsen.com/

Statement

I work mainly with drawing on paper as well as on walls. My practice is based around themes like the unknown, physically unreachable areas, our thoughts, the untold and the undescribed. I find some of my inspiration in the Norwegian folklore, science-fiction and surrealism. My drawings are usually produced impulsively and can sometimes be seen as series where the pieces are created based on each other, like a chain reaction. Some of the drawings show detailed technique-studies.

9 by 11 inch prints “Who is John Galt” and “The Violets are Blooming and We” Prints were my first attempt at carving words in reverse in Linoleum blocks.  The process takes some time, hence the two week lagtime or so in posting anything of my own work.  I like the prints.  Good food for thought on future works.

Artist: Lu Cong

Website:http://lucong.com/

About Lu:

Lu Cong is a contemporary American portrait artist. He is regarded by many as one of the most distinctive young artists to recently emerge from the American West. His paintings center on the faces of his carefully chosen subjects. His style pays homage to 18th Century Romantics, yet is unmistakably conceived in and relevant to the contemporary era. His portraits do not simply capture the physical and emotional state of the subject but rather they establish the complicated psychological interactions that ensue when one comes face to face with the sensual, inexplicable, and unsettling.

Artist:Nolan Haan

Website: http://www.addictedtowalls.com/

Nolan on the “Cinderblock Series” (left):

I enjoy the challenge of my cinderblock series. If an artist paints a peacock, for example, the result is a beautiful painting of a beautiful bird. There is little challenge in this. But to make a cinderblock wall compelling or interesting or beautiful–that is rewarding. I have been exploring the range of my cinderblock work for many years now, and still I am intrigued. I love to experiment with the subtleties of surface texture, of mortar and stucco. The variations seem endless. Whether I adorn them with portraiture, prehistoric cave images, or simply abstract fields of color, what draws people in is the cinderblock itself. This common building material has something more to say….

Artist: Erland Monk

Website: http://erlendmork.com/

Erland on his work:

My inspiration comes from an obsession with philosophy and looking behind and beyond everyday life as it appears to us, i.e. the usual existential questions. My works are symbolic representations of my views and reflections about these. The creatures in my works are as such mad, lost or isolated, in search of some absolute among the relative, trying to know an objective truth, or just become complete nihilists.

I reject most modern and avant-garde art, in other words, almost all the art that is seen, which is dependent upon time, context, consensus and stupefying vanity. I’m not headed for the instituted art world, I’m born of the underground and compare my work to the art of all centuries, or everything else, like a poem or a pocket calculator. Good things.

Artist  Sioban Lombard

Website http://www.siobanlombardiart.com/Site/home.html

Sioban on her work:

Painting creates a reality from a question, a fiction, or an interior place. My recent work suggests examination of manufactured, misplaced and inadequate constructs. The constructs are often the byproduct of the search for utopia that cannot be assembled in the physical or material world. Within my work, time, recollection and longing are collapsed, locating physical presence in time and space.

About Sioban:

Sioban Lombardi is a painter living and working in Chicago. She is creator and author of the blog, Art & Thinking, which mixes personal musings on art, contemporary culture, and her own experience. She served as a Board Director for Refuge Center for Artists and was a founding member of Margin Art Collective. Lombardi spent the last two years completing her MFA at Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, New York.

Artist: Jacob Dahlgran

Website: http://jacobdahlgren.com/

Commentary:

Jacob Dahlgren is a Swedish painter, sculptor, and conceptual artist who works to a large extent with unconventional materials. The artist finds abstraction in everyday objects, which he employs to create dynamic interactive installations and performances. When arranged, the individual objects lose their intended function, their original value, and become part of something completely new. Along with experimenting with such artistic styles of the twentieth century as Constructivism, Minimal Art, and Pop Art, Dahlgren also quotes from the Op Art movement. A common theme for all the works is how art and our everyday life are intertwined.

Artist: Stephanie Clair

Biography

Raised in upstate NY, CLAIR drew her way through those cold winter days, then soon after high school she moved to Virginia where she got a BFA in painting/design at Old Dominion University. She had enough cold to last a lifetime and now has found home in sunny San Diego.

Artist Statement

With the matrimony of emotion, cubes and color, CLAIR shares her inspiration from happy, dreamy moments in life that we can all relate to, but so easily forget. -A first love, a last love, a memory, lovers sipping wine, being enlightened, inspired by sweet music… those moments are ours to remember- but the speed of time can erase the memories we all take for granted. CLAIR tries to capture a snapshot of that moment on canvas. Each painting has a feeling; each feeling tells a story. Her eyes in the paintings allow the viewer to reach in and let you connect. She feels they are the windows to ones soul. Clair’s technique is a delicate blend of color, technique, imagination, and cubism meant to evoke mystery and emotion. Her goal is to challenge the viewer’s eye and mind, as you get lost in a three-dimensional world of people passion and beauty. Influences in her work include Picasso, Matisse, Chagall, Modigliani, and Kandinsky – hence the bright colors, dreamy people, and cubist perspectives.

Website:

http://theartgallerist.com/product/everlasting-embrace?gclid=CN7RodeX5KQCFctw5QodlAZuMA

Artist: Ryan Hall

Website: http://ryanhays.co.uk/

About Ryan:

Ryan Hays is a Scottish born artist living and working in Berlin. His work focuses largely on painting & drawing but also explores sculpture and print making.

Thematically Hays’ recent work attempts to undermine the boundaries between abstraction and figurative art, citing that distinctions between the two have become an outdated relic of the twentieth century. The scientific discoveries that first established abstraction in contrast to figurative art have themselves been superseded by more complex theories that present a more encompassing outlook.

Artist: Steve McGhee

Website: http://stevemcghee.com/

Statement:

Born and raised in London Ontario Canada, I grew up wanting to be a fireman… But as luck would have it, my teachers in Elementary and High School noticed that I had something they referred to as “artistic ability”. Drawing dogs and cats playing together under brightly coloured rainbows might have been cool for some kids… but mine was designing huge “torture houses”… large, 20+ room mansions filled with the most diabolical inventions of evil I could think of, every room more perverse than the last… which quickly became the subject of a conversation between my parents, my teachers and my family Doctor. Fear not, all was well with little Steven, it was just a phase.

By grade 8, my homeroom teacher, Mr. Webster wrote in my yearbook, “Most likely to be designing cereal boxes”. I came really close to designing cereal boxes when I worked as an illustrator for a children’s promo items… placemats, cups, etc., but alas, no cereal boxes.

Now, I’m a professional designer living in Woodstock Ontario, working in Brantford Ontario.

Artist: Matt Cusick

Website:http://mattcusick.com/

About Matthew:

Matthew Cusick was born in New York City in 1970 and graduated from the Cooper Union with a BFA in 1993. He has shown his work internationally since 1995, including New York exhibitions at Andrew Kreps Gallery, Kent Gallery and the Pavel Zoubok Gallery.

Matthew on his work:

I am a painter and a collagist. I work with glue and printed material as well as acrylic paint and ink. The printed materials that I work with derive from archaic educational and cognitive sources, such as maps, atlases, encyclopedias, and school textbooks. I am drawn to the ephemeral nature of this printed information and the latent content that surfaces over time. I like to catalog, archive, and arrange information and then dismantle, manipulate, and reconfigure it. My creative process is informed by the visual properties and informative complexities of the material I am using.

Grain Bill for 5 gallon Batch

10lbs 2 row

1 lb 60l

1lb 80l

1lb Belgian biscuit malt

1 oz Columbus at 60 minutes

1 oz at flash out of fuggle

1 oz of EKG dry hop

Commentary

1.060 was the final gravity however I was targeting 1.070 or so but ran out of gas during the long boil.  I  had a good long rolling boil for around 2.5 hours.  The  mash temp stayed right at 140 for 1 hour and than 150 for thirty minutes.  Mashed out at 162.  Fermented with California Ale yeast, and dropped down to 1.020 after three days.  The ferment stayed at upper end of yeast range to 75 degrees.  I moved the wort to warmer part of house at 1.020 to try and drop gravity down to 1.015.  F.G. After two weeks the gravity reached 1.010.  F.G. after a month was 1.008

Taste wise, this beer is flawless. There are no detectable off flavors.  The head is a finger or two high and remains until the last sip and the glass holds trails of lacing from the foam.  The color is a bit darker than I anticipated partly due to the lighter flavor of this beer.   Hop profile is surprisingly low given that the planned Ibu was around 60ibu.  IBU profile is similar to an English ESB with a slight hop bitterness and minimal aroma.  Slight notes of caramel and malt.  Not as malty a profile as I would like, but not bad.  The alcohol content is around 5.5 abv so this is a very drinkable beer.  If anything I would augment the recipe with some Vienna or Munich malt in the future or mash slightly above the 150 range for a bit more unfermentables in the solution.  The biscuit malt comes through in the flavor profile.  The tannins taste of smooth aged raspberry mellowing of oak and toast over time.  After one month of aging, all yeast have fallen out of suspension and the brew is very clear.  There is no hop haze present.  After two months of aging the beer has reached its peak with notes of wood, dry earthy hop bitterness, and caramel cracked bread toast.

Artist: Rob Evans

Website: http://www.robevansart.net/

Artist Statement:

Since my childhood the impulse has always been there to interpret the world in a visual way. At the same time my need to probe for a deeper understanding of the nature of things stems from being raised by two scientist parents (a biochemist and an archaeologist) with an endless curiosity about the world around them. Growing up in the suburbs of Washington D.C. provided unlimited access to the great art and science museums of the Smithsonian and awakened the sense of mystery in me which is still at the core of what motivates me to create.

Over the last decade my paintings have moved increasingly in the direction of dealing metaphorically with these broader themes inspired by real places, experiences and memories. The most common and everyday occurrences, places and things are transformed into the universal, allowing me, through my work, to examine and confront the issues I face as an artist, parent, spouse and as a participant in life at this particular time in history.

Artist: WK interact

Website: http://www.wkinteract.com/

Artist Statement

WK Interact was born in 1969 in Caen, France. He currently lives and works in New York. Starting at a young age, WK became fascinated by the human body in motion; an infatuation strongly reflected in his work, which often capture figures frozen in a flight of movement. The artist’s technique of twisting an original drawing or photograph while it’s being photocopied results in the monochromatic palette and streamlined moment-in-time appearance of his finished work.

WK site-determines his work by finding an appropriate location first, then his imagery is chosen specifically with a concern for encounters in an urban environment or “interactions” (as the artist indicates in his pseudonym). In the late 1990s his images began appearing on building facades in downtown Manhattan, complimenting the constant stir of bodies in the fast-paced city. By the end of the decade, his unique street art aesthetic was being sought after by galleries around the world.

Artist: Nathan Vernau

Website: http://www.nathanvernau.com/

Artist Statement:
The need to communicate is important. Being heavily influenced by comic books and the stories I read as a child, the idea of sequence and narrative has become essential to my drawings. By animating my body language, using symbols, and adding text I create a visual conversation with the viewer and myself. The words, phrases, or lyrics that appear offer multiple interpretations and double meanings that signify an inability to effectively communicate with others.

The objects I include with my figure come from real and unreal places creating the imaginary landscape of my mind. Throughout the work these symbols touch on themes of instability, insecurity, confusion and a misdirection of emotions. As self-portraits these drawings offer bits and pieces of my character, along with alternate identities or personas. By changing costumes there are different stages of confidence and inner conflict that I find myself in.

By drawing myself in self-deprecating poses I am able to temporarily rid myself of anxiety and overwhelming thoughts. My artwork chronicles my life cycling through frustration, happiness, confusion, and disappointment. Specific, personal experiences that can be universally relatable act as the stimulus for my drawings. As a verbally inhibited person my work has become the most direct and honest way for me to express the emotions and feelings that occupy my mind.

Artist: Josh Reames

Website http://joshreames.com/

Artist Statement:

Josh received a BFA from the University of North Texas and is currently pursuing an MFA at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

He’s had several solo exhibitions in and around the Dallas/Fort Worth area as well as upcoming group shows in Chicago.

Josh was recently featured in New American Paintings and was the recipient of the Club Choice Award from the Union League Club of Chicago – Civic & Arts Foundation.

Artist: Cayce Zavaglia

Website: http://caycezavaglia.com/

Artist Statement:

I still consider myself a painter and find it difficult not to refer to these embroidered portraits as “paintings”. Although the medium employed is crewel embroidery wool, the technique borrows more from the worlds of drawing and painting.

Initially, working with an established range of wool colors proved frustrating. Unlike painting, I was unable to mix the colors by hand. Progressively, I created a system of sewing the threads in a sequence that would ultimately give the allusion of a certain color or tone. The direction in which the threads were sewn had to mimic the way lines are layered in a drawing to give the allusion of depth, volume, and form. Over time the stitches have become tighter and more complex but ultimately more evocative of flesh, hair, and cloth.

My work unabashedly nods its head to the tradition of tapestry and my own love of craft. Using wool instead of oils has allowed me to broaden the dialogue between portrait and process as well as propose a new definition for the word “painting”.

Artist: Tviga Vasilyeva

Website: http://www.iratviga.com/

Commentary:

The white forms in these photographs are the sculptural manifestations of audio footage that was recorded along the border between Russia and Finland. Here the unique old-growth forests stand, The Green Belt of Fennoscandia. Recently these ancient trees are being logged for their valuable timber. There are only few remaining areas of ancient forest in Europe with the vast majority of the vanishing old-growth forests remaining are in the North of European Russia.

The soundwaves are actual objects, each is 6 metres high, reminiscent of the height of a tree, despite looking like digital intervention. I recorded them when the forest was still there. Then, when the trees had gone, I put the ‘sounds’ back to where they used to exist, sounds that look like trees that will never be heard again.

Artist: Richard Galpin

Website:http://www.richardgalpin.co.uk/

Commentary

Richard Galpin’s complex art works are derived from the artist’s own photographs of chaotic cityscapes. Using only a scalpel Galpin intricately scores and peels away the emulsion from the surface of the photograph to produce a radical revision of the urban form. The artist allows himself no collaging, or additions of any kind – each delicate work is a unique piece made entirely by the erasure of photographic information.

The works enact a reimagining of the city, but their futuristic vision is predicated on the city as it is now, with the intricate details bearing traces of contemporary urban experience. Playing between abstraction and representation, the works draw their visual language from a variety of early 20th century movements such as Constructivism, and Vorticism…

Artist: Tine De Ruysser

Website: http://www.tinederuysser.com/Site/Welcome.html

Commentary:

Tine is a jewelry designer who makes wearable metal origami.  Her work is absolutely amazing.  Her work appears as technical as architecture, however as delicate as ornate decoration.  Stunning to say the least.

I spent the weekend writing and working on these pints of beer prints.  Vibrant Warhol like colors erupt from the pages. I’m happy with the results.  Oil, mixed with block printing ink and charcoal. Each print is 9 by 12 inches or so.

Any blogger worth his or her salt has Google analytic software or some equivalent service established so that they can monitor, analyze and respond to their readership.

I for instance have most of my readership located in either the California or North Carolina area which makes sense.  I won’t go into all of the reasons why that is the case, but simply wanted to point it out.

What i find interesting is that the three artist below are the artist which direct the most users to my pages:

Sylvia Grantis

Norman Rockwell

Sam the Dot Man

What i find interesting is the reasons why these artist have the highest hit per page ratio when compared to my other blog pages.  Norman Rockwell for instance makes perfect sense.  He is a well known artist whose works many Americans have seen; He is so well known in fact that his pictures often show up in history text books.  The other two artist, Sam the Dot Man and Sylvia Grantis, I speculate are high achievers in regards to hit per post I speculate because they do not have respective pages that are easy to find on google.  Sure, there are a few articles on the net for each artist, however my page appears close to first or second in the search results when you type in either of their names.  I’m just capitalizing on the fact that they are not represented online.   Mental note, I should search for more artist like these who are well known, but do not have pages online, in order to increase my own page count hits.

I spent a lot of time during my college years training and traveling to races.  A Weekend in the Saddle is mostly a fictional narrative regarding what those weekends are like.  I haven’t fully finished cleaning up the audio namely where i misspoke and didn’t feel like listening to my own voice to edit out those sections, but i have finished a lot of the conversion and pitch changes, etc.  The audio is mostly done.  I can’t say when I’ll get around to completely finishing it up.  With that said, if you are interested at all, an audio version of the exposition can be found below.  The book will be available through Amazon in about two months.  The ISBN process takes time.  The picture above is from my freshman year of college.  There is something to be said for having a good team to race with.

A Weekend in the Saddle A Turbulent Tale of a Bike Warrior [ 1:44:14 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

I have had the good fortune to have a few days off of work.  As neither Lindsey or I are traveling, I have been dedicating a lot of the time to producing new art and writing.  “A Weekend in the Saddle” is now much closer to being finished and I’ve started a short novella about a deranged Sergeant who manages to trap five miniature people in an aquarium.  I’m hoping to have an audio version available shortly of “A Weekend in the Saddle”.  I recorded it yesterday, however haven’t had a chance to clean it up and convert it to MP3 format.

I created a series of three prints with each production run only 8-10 images using various colors so each one is truly unique.  There is a seated man, a magnolia flower and another flower of unknown origin.  These were produced using linoleum block printing techniques.  The rubbers were destroyed in the process.

I printed off labels and bottled some bees wax and tea tree oil based skin balm for Christmas presents.  A picture of these can be seen below.  The lotion is smooth, good smelling and does not leave the skin feeling greasy.  I love bees!

Over the last three weeks I have worked on a series of butterfly prints. There are 18 of these in total, all of which are different. Most use the colors above, however some also have touches of orange/red.  They are 9 by 12 inches and would look best framed in grey/black mattes.

I have spend the last month editing and re-editing “A Weekend in the Saddle: The Turbulent Tale of a Bike Warrior”.  The book is an exposition composed of my thoughts from years of cycling. It’s not entirely factual and not entirely fictional.  At best I would consider it semi autobiographical.  I used prints such as the one above throughout the book subdividing pages, and further added some black and white sketches for more visual interest.  The work runs around 48 pages single spaced, and spans a series of races occurring over one weekend.  I have enjoyed the project, however I’ll be glad to move onto other works I have in progress (more to come).  I have processed this book through LuLu and am expecting the first draft in the mail for final editing any day now.  A PDF download is available free of charge BELOW THE PICTURE  for those interested.  A PDF download is also available through LuLu for one dollar, and hard copies will be available soon through Amazon for around $20 dollars. I would have gone for a cheaper price, however the color printing increased the price two fold – It’s worth it.  In time I’ll put out an audio reading of the book for free as well via podcast feed.

A Weekend in the Saddle: The Turbulent Tale of a Bike Warrior Download

When visiting my brother in San Francisco I had the pleasure to take part in a multitude of human follies/vices. We perused the art museum, spent a lovely Saturday on “the lawn” outside of Berkeley near Haight-Ashbury street, and meandered through the shops of china town.  One of the highlights of the trip for me, was having the chance to visit Russian River Brewing. Russian River for those unfamiliar is perhaps the predominant and foremost American brewery in regards to “wild brews( lambic style)” and IPAs.  I had the good fortune to sample all of their beers on tap through a sampler platter.  I fell deeply for Pliney the Elder DIPA. It’s the equivalent of drinking liquid pine resin – distilled to its essence without the harsh cleansing properties that an overly hopped unbalanced beer can possess. I hence went home, and swiftly bought an entire pound of hops (hop salad) per the recipe below.  I brewed the beer per the Vinnie’s recipe and placed in cold storage for three weeks after a month long ferment. The color is spot on with Pliney as well as the head. The hop flavor, while complex is not up to par with the true Pliney, perhaps owing to the fact that I used pellets as opposed to flowers during the dry hop schedule. It’s a satisfying brew with two beers being more than enough due to the satiating nature of the beer. It’s good, but I can do better. I think the key with the recipe below is using fresh whole hop flowers and drinking quickly after ferment so as not to loose hop oils to oxidative and uv reactions.

All Grain Recipe – Pliny the Elder Clone

T.G 1.074/ F.G 1.012 (6 Gal)

Grain Bill

12 lbs. – 2 Row Pale Malt (American)
1 lb. – Corn Sugar
1/3 lb. – Crystal Malt (45L)
1 lb. – CaraPils Malt

Hop Schedule

1.5 oz – Chinook (First Wort or Mash Hop)
2.75 oz – Warrior (90 Min.)
.5 oz – Chinook (90 Min.)
1 oz – Simcoe (45 Min.)
1 oz – Columbus (30 Min.)
2.25 oz – Centennial (Flameout)
1 oz – Simcoe (Flameout)
3.25 oz – Columbus (Dry Hop)
1.75 oz – Centennial (Dry Hop)
1.75 oz – Simcoe (Dry Hop)

Yeast

White Labs California Ale Yeast (WLP001) – 1800 ml starter

Mash/Sparge/Boil

Mash at 150° to 152° for 60 min.
Sparge as usual
Boil for 90 minutes (remember to compensate your water if you normally do 60 min boils)
Cool and ferment at 66° to 68°

I brew beer because there is something very special in the act of creation itself. There is an intangible quality so great in making a composition that you and you alone can experience.  Everyone of course can partake in the taste of beer, however only the brewer can taste the beer throughout its full lifespan; from grain to cup.  This Saison, this farmhouse ale is special. It’s similar to a Flanders Red, with a bit more wit beer acidity mixed in and a tad less color.  It is however very true to the farmhouse wild, unruly and funky nature.  It was brewed hot at 90 degrees according to the Saison yeast style guidelines.

Belgian Wheat – 7 gallon mash reduced to about 5.5 during racking

• 13 lbs 2 Row Pale Ale Malt
• 6 lbs torrid wheat
• Turbid mash schedule – boiling during the mash out to raise temps gradually
• Hop Schedule
  • @ 60 min 1oz Cascade
  • @ 30 min .5 oz cascade
  • @ flame out .5 oz cascade
  • 2 oz Pearl dry hop
• Belgian Strong Ale Yeast and SA04 Primary
• Yeast – Champagne Yeast in secondary for highest attenuation possible
• Lacic – malolactic – tartaric acid blend – 60z
• O.G. 1.088 – Reduced to around 1.070 by adding water post primary ferment.

Notes: The fermenting wort was moved to 90 degrees during primary for two weeks after the initial two week period held at 75.  I wanted to bring out some bubble gum phenols and esters. I did. It was than reduced to 70 degrees where additional champagne yeast was added.  The initial fermentation ceased at 1.040 so added some water and champagne yeast to raise the alcohol percentage and lower the final gravity. I noticed a slight pellicle on top after the first month of fermentation.  I’m guessing that this came from some of the critters in the brett, pedio and lacto in the Belgian strong ale strain mix, or it could have been from contamination.  Regardless, if anything, the spoilage assisted in building out the complex flavor rather than being a detrimental factor in the ferment.  Three months later and the young Belgian specialty ale, as it doesn’t really fit into any predefined category due to the alcohol content and flavor profiles. This ain’t a lambic, it ain’t a saison and it certainly isn’t a gueze.  It is a worthwhile and complex brew.

The flavor profile is beyond complex. The simplest comparison that I can use to describe it would be a mixture between a full bodied white burgundy and champagne.
The nose is of strong pineapple, apricots, banana, and other indescribably lush tropical fruits. The flavor goes a bit deeper than fruity acids and pungent esters with  subtle notes of funky barnyard, leather, perhaps horse collar.  The color is light, with an effervescent mouth feel. I pushed the C02 high with around 2bar. The head does not linger, however plenty of lacing remains on the side of the glass. Two cups of this brew is quenching with a higher abv (8%) and such satiating flavors.

This one is a winner. It would pair exceptionally well with spicy foods, meats of all kinds, flavorful soups and any other dish with strong spicy characteristics.  If I brewed it again, I would up the dark crystal malt profile a tad bit to add yet another layer of complexity.

I’ve spent the last two months working to recreate a previous composition. I began two canvases dedicated to this task. The works began with a layer of tar and sand, painted over again and again.  I pealed off the layers, like strips of peel from an orange.  I painted, repainted and painted again, using layers of polyurethane as the glue.  I created a suitable background for a composition, using my normal layered style, and after completion, I found that I liked the simplicity of the backgrounds more than the thought of disturbing the silence with additional painted forms. I am done.  Welcome to “Red Paintaholic” and “Purple Paintaholic”

I have been working on a manuscript over the last year or so which documents in principle my experience of cycling. The manuscript is well on its way to being completed.  These prints will be used as chapter dividers.  It’s not entirely fiction or non fiction, but rather a blending of the two – A Mark Twain if you will.  I spent the day today, carving a rubber block, cutting my hand, and producing these colorful cycling prints.  There are twenty in total. The rubber has been destroyed.

Grain Bill – 10 Gallons

• 33 lbs. – 2 Row Pale Malt (American)
• 1 lb. – CaraPils Malt
• 1lb flaked oats
• 1lb crystal malt

Hop Schedule

• 2 oz magnum at 90 minutes
• 2 oz Simcoe at 90 minutes
• 8 oz hallertau at flame out
• 8 oz hallertau dry hop

Yeast

White Labs California Ale Yeast (WLP001) – 1800 ml starter

Mash/Sparge/Boil

Mash at 150° to 152° for 60 min.
Sparge as usual

Details

• O.G. 1.085
• F.G. 1.010

I brewed this beer and fermented it out over a month. Temperatures where a little on the warmer side – 75-80 degrees, maintaining closer to 72 during the height of early fermentation. I let the temps rise after a few days.  Racked to secondary for two weeks and filtered off of the trub.  The nose is composed of a dense bouquet of orange, dry malt, and fragrant hops.  The flavor is a balanced blend of dry malt sweetness, alcohol and floral dense hops. The flavor profile is a mix between the Green Flash DIPA and the Green Flash West Coast IPA. The alcohol content is warming and covered well by the hops. If I were to brew this again, I would alter the schedule to produce a beer with a bit less fermentable sugar. The 9.5% alcohol or so will catch up with you. The flavor however is very satiating. Two of these beers is completely satisfying.  The head retention and lacing are simply amazing. The beer pours with a three finger dense white head, which remains until the last sip – perhaps due to the hops and the flaked oatmeal grist.  The recipe  idea while similar to Russian River’s noble experiment is not executed in exactly the same manner. Russian River’s brew is more delicate, this noble experiment with the addition of some higher alpha acid American hops tends more towards the traditional west coast IPA style.

Did I mention that with this amount of lupenin from the hops, you’ll be lucky to stay up past nine thirty?

Over the last two weeks I have been experimenting with rubber block printing and color combination. I worked away at the background and vase first, followed by a bit more detail on the flower pedals and the vase bottom. The results look stunning when compared as a series. Tulips redefined.  I made thirty of these, most of them completed over the course of the last 24 hours. More flower prints to come, perhaps a daisy or a pansy next.

This painting is 3 feet tall by 4 feet wide. Figures matched by their shadows face off. The base of the painting is composed of a white layer painted over a previous work that I was never fully happy with. Tar is underneath that. I dug out the forms, through layers of paint, exposing the tar and then sealing it back in with polyurethane. The figures and background are painted on that matrix. It can be hung with either side  upwards. I prefer it with red on top.

American Watermelon Ale

• 10 lbs 2 Row Pale Ale Malt
• .5 lb Aromatic Malt
• Hop Schedule
  • @ 60 min 1oz Cascade
  • @ 30 min .5 oz cascade
  • @ flame out .5 oz cascade
• Yeast – Belgian Strong Ale Yeast
• ½ diced watermelon added to secondary

O.G. 1.050, F.G. 1.008

Notes: Fermentation smelled strongly of spicy Belgian phenols and happened very quickly. The beer has high attenuation with little to no haze left in the glass. The yeast formed tight sedimentation on the bottom of the carboy.  This is a summer session beer. The hop schedule is light and floral with citrus undertones. The malt profile is present but low. Ale flavors are present but not pronounced. The finish is all watermelon. The watermelon flavor is present but not overpowering. This is a good palate cleansing brew, like taking a bite out of a honey dew melon.  I would brew it again, perhaps using even more watermelon and definitely adjusting the hopping schedule to add a bit more complexity.

Tasting compared to 21^st Amendment’s Watermelon wheat this recipe is a bit cleaner, lacking the cloudy tartness. After trying both, I’m more partial to mine, due to the higher hop ratio and crisper flavor.

Artist: Anthony Santella

Website: http://www.santella.org/anthony/

Commentary: Wow: Take a computer science major with a longing to create and what you have is Anthony Santella’s gorgeous collection of works.  His works run the gamete from dark monocolored figurative paintings, to bright illustrative works full of emotion, to lustrously carved wooden sculptures. I’m amazed by the vibrancy of his work and the myriad directions that his mind’s eye takes him. Anthony’s world is wickedly sad with a glimmer of ironic hope. The images can best be associated with Tim Burton’s movie creations. Linear, lone, and lean figures glare out at the viewer inviting a stare.

Artist: Harry Harrington

Website: http://www.bonsai4me.com/index.htm

Commentary: Harry’s work is amazing. Put simply he is a master at his art. I’ve spent the last few days absorbing as much information as I can from his collection of work. I have an image in my head of crafting deliciously large bonsai. These will be paired atop sculptures and hand carved feather rock pots. It will be a fusion of ancient and modern art forms. It will be a fusion of pop and classical. This process unfortunately will take years, but that is what makes it so great. Trees cannot be grown in a day.

Check out Harry’s work, specifically the Articles section. You won’t be disappointed, and you may become a convert.

American Ale – SA04 Yeast

• 10 lbs 2 Row Pale Ale Malt
• .5 lb Aromatic Malt
• Hop Schedule
  • @ 60 min 1oz Cascade
  • @ 30 min .5 oz cascade
  • @ flame out .5 oz cascade
• Yeast –SA04 Dry Ale Yeast
• O.G. 1.044, F.G. 1.008
• Notes: I brewed this beer with the intention of producing a light and crisp summer ale. It has a low hoping schedule, a light to medium body and color, and a low cost grain bill. It’s been aging on the lees for a month and was kegged over the weekend. With such a low O.G., one can imagine that this is a session brew.  The light flavor make the quafability high. I have been enjoying it with lemon added as the mouth feel coupled with the dog days of summer make this beer drink like a corona.  For my tastes it lacks of noticeable hop character specifically bittering hop character.  Aroma hops are present and pleasing. The head is lacking, due to the relatively well flocculating yeast and low protein present in the grain.  I’m happy with this beer, if I brewed it again, I would adjust the recipe to add a bit more head by perhaps using a lb or so of oatmeal and I would add a higher alpha acid hop at the beginning of the boil. Again, this is probably just the Brit in me wanting to ruin a perfectly good summer session beer with more flavor.

This is work from the last week. It’s composed of tar, layers of oil paint, acrylic and clear coat polyurethane. It’s 4 feet long by 13 inches tall. Clouds a bridge and numerous layers until I found what I liked.

Artist: Julie Steiner

Website: http://www.etsy.com/shop/OutsideTheBoxArt

Commentary:

Julie’s  story is below.  The way that she paints strikes me as I work in a similar manner.  The difference between the two of us being that my works tend more towards destruction rather than construction, whereas here’s verge more on construction. It’s a minor point but worth noting.

Per Clarissa “I create my paintings by combining chaotic gestures with structured lines…A style that also imitates the way I live my life. I work on my paintings a little bit at a time…mostly because I am juggling many tasks that are not art related, but also because it gives me time to let the painting take shape and grow slowly, letting the personality unfold as I watch from afar. I let the painting make decisions for itself, and correct the ones that don’t work. After a painting is complete, I stand back and reflect on the process of creation, and the steps it took to get things just so. Most of the time I am just flying by the seat of my pants, but when the day is done, all the chaos finds a peaceful resting place, and I am pleased”

Clarissa’s faces are moving, haunting, and vibrant. They would fill a room with warmth. While these are great selling pieces as the general public can approach them, I’m particular fond of her tar paper painting series. I like the black, the heavy oil stick look and the randomness of artistic abstraction which has yet to devolve into a mottled mess of brown. In a series together as seen in the images below, the works are striking. They are reminiscent of primitive paintings yet at the same time extend into contemporary European modern art. I can see them originating from the artistic studios of an underground cold war era eastern bloc painter.  The works have power, fury and are contemplative.

Artist: John Lee

Website: http://www.jonleestudio.com/

Commentary: John’s works are modern abstractions in that an idea is presented, deconstructed and than reconstructed throughout the piece. Numerous colors harmonious in the works. Shapes, specifically string formations pull the pieces together. Black and White focal points of easily recognizable images are superimposed on the fore and background between layers of cacophony.  John’s works engage the viewer to sit and stare for awhile.

Grain Bill:

IPA DogFishHead 90 Minute Clone with Oak Chips

• .5 lbs carapils Malt
• 1 lb amber malt 40L
• 10.0 lbs Pilsner Malt Liquid Extract
• .75 lbs Honey
• Hop Schedule: Give equal amounts of each hop every 3 minutes of boil

1 oz Summit Hops

.5 oz Simcoea

.5 oz Warrior Hops

5 oz Amarillo Hops

1 oz U.K. Progress

1 oz Cascade

Dry hop with .5 ounces of Cascade

1.5 Coriander

• 1 oz 350 degree toasted French oak chips soaked in bourbon
• .5 oz Bitter Orange Peel and .5 Oz Sweet Orange Peel added secondary
• Yeast: Dry Ale Yeast SA04
• O.G. 1.070
• F.G. 1.015

Notes: This beer aged for three months. It took a month in primary and at least another month in secondary.  I added champagne yeast a week into secondary to dry the beer out a bit more. At first the coriander was overwhelming on the palate. The experience was akin to eating a spicy Indian dish. With time, the flavors have mingled, the beer has clarified. There is a nice hop dryness with a hot peppery finish. I’ve found that I like this brew much more with a bit of lime added, which tends to smooth out the harsher flavors. I wouldn’t brew this again, using the malt extract and the coriander. The recipe has great potential, however still needs some tweaking. In the future I would use a yeast with a bit more ester creation, and I would avoid the orange peel and coriander entirely. I would also choose to use an all grain recipe composed solely of a pilsner malt.

Artist Dolf James

Website: http://3rdboxdesign.com/black_box.html

Commentary: There is something to be said for an artist who can take mundane industrial objects, hardware, wood, scraps of this and that and create assembled works which claim the space that they occupy as their own.  Dolf sees the potential that a dab of color and texture can provide to a work of art. He isn’t afraid to play with his medium.   Flexible wires, attach orbs and rectangular shapes together. These forms are adhered to the wall, however they transcend from the wall by jutting out towards the viewer as if the wall is not their home. The space between the viewer and the work is their home. Twisted wire is juxtaposed elegantly against the austere rectangular frames drawing the viewers eyes across the works, unifying diverse colors, textures and shapes.  The works are classy, engaging and approachable.

Grain Bill:

Belgian Golden (Malty ESB) Wheat Ale – Saison Yeast

• 7 lbs Marris Otter Malt
• .5 lb Dextrin Malt
• 2 lbs honey
• 1 lbs Corn Sugar
• 1.5 lbs crushed un-malted wheat
• 1 lbs Belgian Biscuit Malt
• Hop Schedule
  • @ 60 min 1oz Summit
  • @ 30 min 2 oz cascade
  • @ flame out 2 oz cascade
• .5 oz coriander at flame out
• Yeast – Belgian Saison Yeast (Ferment at 70-95) – One week
• Yeast – Champagne – at 50 degrees in secondary.
• O.G. 1.050
• F.G. 1.010

Tasting Notes: The nose on the fermentation was reminiscent of cut grass, sourdough bread, and bubblegum.  This subsided over time. The brew was aged three months, with the first month being at a higher temperature to ferment out as much as possible using the Saison yeast.  The flavors have since changed substantially, becoming well balanced and complex.  The brew is thick golden in color and true to its Belgian farmhouse roots, slightly cloudy, however lacking acidity.  A nose of honey is present although minimal. The mouth feel is heavy, but not syrupy. Medium carbonation helps to lighten the perception of viscosity.  The hops are present more in aroma than in bittering profile. The flavor is complex and moderate in that the flavors are not overpowering. Herbal, spice, grapefruit, banana, clove, pinneable can all be perceived.  This is a good cooler weather – fall time or springtime brew. It’s a bit too heavy for the dog days of summer. It would pair well with a complex cheese or cold appetizer plate. If I were to make it again, I’d probably shy away from the dextrin malt and/or the English Marris Otter Malt in favor of a lighter lower protein grain.  This beer, while good, would be better with a touch higher attenuation and alcohol warmth to accommodate all of the spectacular spice and ester flavors.

Artist: Pablo Picasso

Commentary: Pablo’s own historical record plays out as one of a man who is seen as an active artist. He moves throughout his works in furtive encompassing gestures. The female subjects remain, docile and submissive.  His art is composed of a jumble of artistic imagery inclusive of art history, ethnology, popular culture, philosophy and contemporary art. These images played against each other are what make Picasso’s work so enduring.  While cubism and may be Picasso’s most lasting artistic image, his works evokes similarities to others working at the same time such as Matisse and Cezanne. Picasso’s works portray life in a separate reality. A vivid life full of emotion, action, intrigue, beauty, but all the still a life of disjointed and juxtaposed realities.

Artist: Ryan Rowozski

Website: http://www.ryanmrozowski.com/

Commentary: Ryan’s world is one of muted warm colors.  Indistinguishable human forms interact in surreal landscapes, taking part in imaginative and evocative actions. His works are worth the mental enigma that they pose.  They are warm, inviting, and appealing to the viewer.  The color palette and themes are reminiscent of the early 1920’s era.  Painted on canvas the works absorb into the linen rather than bounce from it. These pieces would hang exceptionally well in a gallery, or as a figure piece in a nested room.

Artist: Kat Zinn

Website: http://www.katzinn.com/

Commentary: Whimsical swirls, colors and geometric shapes collide in symmetrical portraitures of visionary landscapes.  Nature in all its glory is on display. Lakes, mountains, trees, fields – the splendid terra is drawn in pen and ink, and accented with color washes. Kat has a number of original prints for sale on her website.

Grain Bill:

Belgian Golden (Malty ESB) Wheat Ale

• 7 lbs Marris Otter Malt
• .5 lb carapils Malt
• 2 lbs honey
• 1 lbs Corn Sugar
• 1.5 lbs crushed un-malted wheat
• 1 lbs Belgian Biscuit Malt
• Hop Schedule
  • @ 60 min 1oz Summit
  • @ 30 min 2 oz cascade 8.7% alpha
  • @ flame out 2 oz cascade 8.7% alpha
  • @ Primary add 1oz Amarillo
• .5 oz coriander at flame out
• Belgian Strong Ale Yeast (Ferment 65-80) – Primary Fermentation
• Yeast – Champagne Yeast added after one week and laagered at 50 degrees
• O.G. 1.050
• F.G. 1.010

Tasting Notes:

This may be the most complex beer that I have made to date. It has notes of bread, orange, spice, banana, clove, pepper, and pineapple. Most of these can be associated to the Belgian Yeast interacting with the grain to produce phenol esters.  The un malted wheat greatly contributes to the silky mouth feel of this beverage. The alcohol while present on the finish, is mellow and well balanced against the other flavor profiles. The initial fermentation smelled of wood and nutmeg. Upon carbonation, the nose primarily smells of orange and pineapple which is surprising given that no orange peels where used in this Belgian recipe.  The hop schedule is modest in alpha acids and well balanced. The Amarillo hops can be smelled perhaps more than they are tasted. This beer will serve best with cold entrees on a warm summer day. Think blue moon’s older and wiser sister.  The same body structure is there, but this beauty has more panache, more flavor and a better kiss.

For the last three months I have found a renewed love for running.  This has reduced some of my “free” time and hence I haven’t been painting quite as much. No worries, the brush and the canvas will return. I’ve been touching up many of my works from the past, brewing beer, roasting coffee and working on some projects that have languished for months.

I made four birdhouses out of reclaimed cedar/pecan and American Holy trees that fell during hurricane Fran.  These were placed around the neighborhood. I haven’t noticed any birds nesting in them to date, however I am hopeful that they will be found; if not this year than next.

I have also been refining my green coffee roasting technique. I bought around 25lbs of green beans and have been using an air popper roaster to roast my green beans to perfection. I have been a coffee aficionado, thus it was only a matter of time before I decided to roast my own beans. The costs savings alone over a year are worth it. Green beans costs from 3-5 dollars a pound compared to the 14 dollars for 14oz that I was paying at my local store. The price at my local shop and the reduction in size from 16oz to 14oz is what prompted me to switch to roasting my own beans.

The instructions for roasting are simple.  Take two heaping handfuls of beans and place them in the air popper.  Depending on the type of bean and the roast desired roast from 6-10 minutes. Place a large bowl under the air popper exhaust to catch the chaff. Once roasted, place the beans on an oven pan to cool down.  Repeat the above 4-5 times in order to roast a lb. I simply set the timer on my microwave and every few minutes head outside to switch the beans. The total process takes 30-40 minutes and you can multitask while you are doing it. It’s simple, and at the end you have fresh roasted, excellent beans. I’ve found that aged coffee’s do better at 1^st crack around 6 minutes in the air popper. For an espresso roast I’ll stick to 9 minutes or so and for an Italian roast you’ll want 10 minutes.

Grain Bill

Belgian Golden Wheat Ale

• 3lbs (lightly kilned) wheat malt
• 8 lbs marries otter malt
• 2lbs 40l caramel aromatic malt
• 2 handfuls oatmeal
• Yeast: Belgian Strong Ale Yeast – Good to 12% Attenuation
• Hop Schedule
  • @ 60 min U.K. Progress 1.5oz  (Had left over so used as bittering)
  • @ 30 min 1oz Tettenang
  • @ flame out 1oz Pearl
• 1 oz coriander at flame out
• 1 oz sweet orange peel at flame out
• 1 gram seeds of paradise at flame out
• O.G. 1.044
• F.G. 1.008
• ABV 5%

Tasting Notes: This beer is a traditional spin-off of a Belgian classic wheat beer. It’s a tad maltier in style when compared to an American Wheat beer due to the Marris otter malt.  It is not quite funky enough or cloudy enough to be considered a true Belgian wheat beer. The Belgian Strong Ale Yeast did a good job of clarifying the beer as well as getting it to reach full attenuation. Primary fermentation was quick at 7 days, with a racking and secondary fermentation occurring over a three week period. The color is a deep raspberry reddish brown. The nose is bready with a character close to a good unfiltered Mexican cervesa.  The coriander and orange flavors are unnoticeable if at all present.  The Paradise seed adds a slight spicy elegance, which is present in the finish.  The hop profile is well balanced, favoring aroma over bitterness. Hop bitterness is well balanced against the sweet malt profile with a preference for the malt over the bitter.  The aromatic malt and wheat malt profiles blend well with the Marris otter grain.  Mouth feel is similar to a blue moon, with less sweetness on the palate and a tad more alcoholic bite on the finish.

As far as home brew goes, this beer may be my favorite creation to date. It is very high on the drink-ability and flavor scale.

[Show as slideshow]

[View with PicLens]

12345►

I spent the last week in Haiti moving rock, painting, playing with kids and reconstructing walls. The trip was my first out of the country.  I wrote every night. There was so much information to absorb.  Haiti is a lush country, full of fruits and surrounded by crystal blue oceans.  Port Au Prince the capitol is encircled by mountains which rise from the coast.  The group that I was with worked at three sites across the city. Each site serves community functions as a school and a church for the surrounding areas.

Saturday

• Those who have met “blancs” before shout “hey you” often followed by “give me”.  Some stare, others wave. The Haitians are easily dis-guarded by a simply “bon jour” followed by “ca va”.
• The concrete roofs don’t have enough re-bar and there is no engineering bureaucracy.
• There aren’t enough birds here – where did they go?
• The American’s drink 20oz glass bottles full of coke followed by fruit champagne and sprite.
• There is no alcohol allowed at Blanchard. I can’t see how it would be kept cold.  The Haitians do not seem to consume beer or wine in abundance.
• There are UN peacekeepers scattered across the roads in groups of two primarily near the major slums.
• The smell of human waste and death comes in waves
• Men work all day for $5 dollars.

Sunday

• Pot wafts across the roof. I saw three fields of it growing while riding in the tap tap’s. One dispersed amongst corn and the others hidden behind walls.
• I ran 3 miles out on the streets today. The smell of human waste was sickening.
• The sounds of the city, death, singing, animals, chatting, fire, screaming, preaching, are all becoming normal.
• We watch from the third floor of the compound the lives of the Haitians who surround us. There is no room for privacy in this culture.
• Gregory came up to me – apparently I’m the boss. He wanted a job.
• The military men drive in Humvees
• The roads are dirt intermixed with stones.
• Creole french is different from french.
• There was an old man at church who had a cell phone.  Haitians pay 7 cent a minute to talk on the phone

Monday

• There are eyes of jaundice here. Some of the kids have parasites.
• I’m speaking french. It is coming back.
• Two kids in particular from the school attached to me – Alexi and Alexis. They were brother and sister. The kids don’t want to be at the school as there are concrete ceilings.
• The kids love candy.
• The mountains at night are great for sunsets.
• I ran on the soccer field and did steps today in the compound.
• You are running through their backyard. Eyes glare but are friendly with salutation.
• The mountains have been deforested.
• Men, Women and children sing all hours of the day and night.
• There are dog’s on the roofs.
• The way the Haitians build with concrete is incredible. It’s very labor intensive for the scale of the projects.
• Everything is build on site.
• My french is coming back.
• Thank you Lindsey for the 98% Deet.

Tuesday

• Coffee and sunrise are such a treat.
• I shared a coke and a hat with a Haitian construction worker.

• Everything is pre-built with the aged look of ruins
• A cool breeze flows across the rooftops every night. It carries the smell of smoke intermixed with herbal fragrances.
• Singing blossoms every night; from every corner
• Chickens scratch through piles of garbage cleaning the scraps of bugs
• Green mangoes droop from unplanned trees
• Haitians view cell phone ownership as a status simple. Unused ear buds connect to ears and blare mp3’s fed from the phones.
• There is no plumbing or trash infrastructure to speak of, as well as electrical consistency. The entire infrastructure for the city needs to be built. I wonder if there is such a thing as eminent domain here?
• A woman watched me as I showered through the window. The white skin must seem odd.
• The roads are pot hole marked paths of dirt pebbled with grapefruit size boulders. This is not a smooth driving highway. There are no traffic laws.
• In Citie Soleil women make pies full of mud and oil to fill empty lunchtime stomachs. Given that human waste is present in the mud, one can’t help but wonder about the parasite problem.
• The gate keepers family at the school, does not attend the school itself. This is an odd juxtaposition.
• Large 14 foot walls, are capped with razor wire or broken bottles.
• After three days – the replies of bon sois have stopped instead replaced by “hey you”
• Tall heavy iron gates leading into compounds for tell of previous strife.
• Tents, tarps and bedsheets on poles are the home of choice for millions. There are regulations you see for erecting structures of stone here.

Wednesday

• I wept today.
• What does one do as a person with disabilities here?
• I played a game of football. The Haitians at any age are better than American’s at the game. Some play shoeless.
• I hugged my mom.
• I’ve started jabbering in French. Verbs and their conjugations are coming back.

Thursday

• The young Haitian school children love blond hair. The girls wanted to clean my fingernails.
• I’m sick of the snoring in the dorm room. It’s worse than the smell of wafting waste which drifts in every night.
• The kids danced in the rain tonight. It poured for a few hours.

Friday

• I miss Lindsey. I miss the way she smells and holding her.
• We drove for three hours today. I road in the back of the tap tap. Up and down unsafe roads. No one else seems to worry about riding in the back of a truck. One hit and we are all  on the side of the road. Road rash and getting run over isn’t fun. I hate going out in the cars.
• The older men who have jobs are such noble workers.
• I saw a naked man today. He waved, just staring up at the blancs with his birthday suit on.
• The art gallery had some amazing carved reliefs and stones for incredible prices. Stuff would sell for $400 dollars that would costs 2-5k in the states simply due to the labor costs.
• The animals, Goats, chickens, dogs, pigs, cows and cats live amongst the people. The climb in, on and around everything.

Saturday

• We remained in the Haitian airport for 5 hours past the flights anticipated departure. A part had to be flown in from the states?
• We missed our connection and remained stuck in Miami through Monday. I was inconsolable for some time. It had been a very long week.
• Aid workers and Missionaries are Haiti’s tourism.

.

It has been a long time since my last post.  I spent a week in Hiati and three days in transit.  I have spent the last few days catching up on house work and real work so I have had limited time to post new review. I plan to work towards a completed summary of the trip over the next day or two. I have a journal full of notes to consolidate into fluent thoughts and numerous photos to post. These will be up on the blog for anyone who cares soon.

Artist: Molly Trezise

Website: http://www.etsy.com/shop/MollyTrezise

Commentary: Molly Trezise

Molly’s style offers a modern take on Americana by combining hand-drawn images with graphic patterns, and a strong pop-art reference. Portraits are created by hand on glass using permanent ink and spray paint.  Molly’s works are worth checking out. They are a great example of modern iconoclasm.  Her work is detail oriented, rich in color and depth. All of her works remain true to her style and would sit well paired together.

Artist: One Love Art

Website:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/OneLoveArt/227724555551
Check out my new blog:
http://one-love-art.blogspot.com/

I love Nan’s work. Pure inspiration, mood, randomness with a balance. The piece above is examplary of his style. This is the closest to Jackson Polluck that I have seen without diverging into chaos. The prices on etsy are reasonable. The works would suit an open space extremely well.  I can also fully agree with the one love mantra.

Two weeks before the Christmas holidays of 2009 I set out to create non traditional mead.  While the concoction I brewed is not technically considered mead (it’s actually an agave pulgue) its flavor profile and composition are so similar that I like to consider it within the same category. The difference of course being that I used unrefined blue agave nectar as my base sugar as opposed to a traditional honey base.  Once this base completely fermented using standard bread yeast, I added 2 lbs of honey, 10 lbs of wild dark plums in sugar base and an additional dose of fresh yeast. Secondary fermentation continued for two months with a resulting alcohol ABV of around 9%.  The addition of the plums really changed the flavor profile of this drink. The agave nectar on its own produced a slightly bready but very smooth and subtle beverage. This beverage was much less harsh at 1 month than meads tend to be.  The plums significantly acidified the drink so in order to balance out the tart profile I added .75lbs of un-fermentable sugars. The resulting beverage at 4 months is pale to pinkish in color, sweet but not cloying, and sips like a tart Belgian lambic without the funk. It is defiantly a sipper, not a session brew. The vanilla stick is unnoticeable if present.  The lighter alcohol compared to mead will make this a pleasant evening drink during the warmer summer months should it last that long in the keg.  It serves best cold.

If I was going to brew this recipe again, I would avoid the plums altogether and add a dose or two more of honey, in order to raise the abv. I would let this ferment to dryness and serve as a champagne.  I’m coming to learn that my personal preference is on the dryer side.

Grain Bill

Plum Wine Agave Base

• 9lb dark agave syrup
• 2 lb dark honey
• 5 cans of plums in heavy syrup and 1 large package of prunes (Around 1-2 lbs dextrose sugar syrup)
• .5 gallons pale ale base (1lb grain)
• Standard bread yeast – primary fermentation
• Champaign yeast – secondary
• .75 lb lactose sugar
• ½ stick of vanilla bean for aroma

Artist: Michelle Daisley Moffitt

Website: http://www.etsy.com/shop/MDaisleyMoffitt

Commentary: Michelle Daisley Moffit works in vibrant patches of unadulterated color.  Her works are cacophonous collaborations of brush/knife strokes, impasto techniques, and texture.  Primary and Secondary colors dance from the canvas in unadulterated joy. Repetitive forms interact upon the canvas – moving from top to bottom or side to side. These shapes are often familiar and easily recognizable, consisting of circles, squares, hearts, etc.  Michelle’s works are bright and vibrant. They would well accent a kitchen or other well lit living space.



Artist: Sam the Dot Man

Website: http://npaper-wehaa.com/yes-weekly/2009/12/01/#?article=671157

Commentary: Sam McMillan the 83 year old painter Winston Salem native is a beacon of light for those of us who hope to remain artistically inspired during our golden years. His works inspire scores of children and adults yearly.  To put it simply, the Sam is retired, driven, full of artistic vision and driven. He speaks with a wisdom which only comes through experience “If I go tonight, I’ve lived a life that most people don’t live it because I love everybody in the world, everybody. If you do that, somebody’s going to love you.”  Sam’s love can be seen in his work, each piece an object of passion, an object of resplendent childhood impulse, a collection of dots linked through color, and repetitive automation.  As an artist working in a folk medium, Sam has carved out a niche for his work. The vibrant dots blend well with the American southern cultural landscape. If you are lucky enough to have purchased or been given one of Sam’s works, the highly lacquered aspect will allow them to last for generations.

Artist: Corry at Silver City Iron

Website: http://www.etsy.com/shop/SilverCityIron

Commentary: Once in awhile it is worth noting an artist who works in forms other than paint and canvas. Corry is one of those artists. I have been following his work for the last few months, and slowly watched the rise in his product line. Corry builds beautiful hand forged furniture and sculpture using traditional blacksmithing techniques.  I am particularly fond of his joinery skills and the apparent craftsmanship of each piece. The wine barrel side table he made reminds me of a similar piece that I finished myself a few years back.  His work however is better.  The works function as both artistic centerpieces and functional sculpture.  If you are in the mood for some modern day furniture with an eclectic appeal than his works are worth viewing.

Artist: N. Lambert

Website: http://www.etsy.com/shop/AtelierLambert

Commentary: N. Lambert is a life-long fine artist, former graphic designer, and an art educator at the middle school level. N. Lambert works primarily with bees wax and acrylic pigments. The works are tactile in nature, often comprised of a three dimensional element.  Box and circle shapes are prevalent in the abstract works. Pieces created exhibit a refined primitive element similar to new age modern South American art. The works evoke a sense of grown up artistic play, doodling with form and color as opposed to pen and paper. On the creativity scale, these works are original. They would look well, paired or set up in a display for comparison in a calm inviting room. N. Lambert’s works demand attention and would simply look too cluttered in a space where they visually had to compete.

Paintings created during the first few months of 2010. Lindsey created the smaller aced etched metal tree scene. I created the larger 4 by 2 foot works using oil, concrete, enamel and found objects. Not sure if these are fully done yet, however they are close.

Artist: Stuart Pearson Wright

Website: http://stuartpearsonwright.com

Commentary: Stuart Pearson Wright paints with the hand of a man who knows his abilities and has honed them into a cohesive and compelling vision. Unlike runners, painters must find their own path to success. Success for a painter is not as easy as being the fastest man on the field. Stuart has managed to find success, despite the less than obvious path to it. His work possesses the qualities of seduction, nudity, death, and decay. The color choices are often muted with an aged appearance. Graphic elements are highlighted through darker hues contained within the paintings.  Women engaged in various actions are often his primary subject matter. Each work appears to have the qualities of a classic created before its time.

Artist: Cheryl Molner

Website:http://www.cherylmolnar.com/

Commentary: I found Cheryl’s work through www.artistaday.com which is an excellent resource which profiles emerging and talented artist. There was an art movement in the 70’s and 80’s in California where artist painted in a realistic yet boxy style. Images and subject matter often included perfectly manicured lawns and American dream homes. Cheryl’s work reminds me of that movement. Her subjects are collections of homes inclusive of their lawns and formal facades. She uses muted lighter tones often working in springtime colors balanced by earth hues.  She works in various media forms from collaged paper, to oil, to painting atop building blueprints. Her work is intriguing and in series would allow for amble comparison. Her website and work history are worth a view.

The Art of Fermented Beverage. I brewed this one at the start of February 2010. The recipe is my own although it plays on traditional themes.

Belgian Double Hopped Shaggy Blond Ale

Batch Size: 5 Gallons

Grain Bill:

• 8 lbs 2 Row Pale American Malt
• .5 lbs Carapils – Dextrin Malt
• .5 lbs 70l Caramel Malt
• .25 lbs Rolled Oats
• 1 lb Dark Mountain Honey

Hop Schedule:

• 1 oz Summit hops @ 75 Min (Start of Boil)
• .5 oz Summit hops @ 60 min
• .5 oz Summit hops @ 30 min
• 1 oz UK Progress @ 30 min
• 1 oz UK Progress @ 5 min

Additives

• .5 oz sweet orange peel @ 10 min flame out
• 1 oz coriander @ 10 min flame out
• Super Moss @ 10 min to flame out

Specs:

• O.G. 1.056 – 16 Plato
• Single Grain mash at 150-154 degrees for 1 hour for sugar conversion. Raised temperature to 158 for sparge out.
• SA04 Dry Ale Yeast – alcohol tolerant to 10%. Good Flocculation and Sedimentation. Medium Attenuation.
• Fermented at 65 degrees on primary for 5 days and secondary at 50 degrees for two weeks.
• F.G. 1.010

Tasting Notes

This brew will please the palettes of many beer connoisseurs. It is brewed with traditional Belgian spices (sweet orange peel and coriander), using American dry ale yeast and malts, with a bit of honey for higher alcohol and lighter mouth feel.  A small percentage of rolled oats have been added to the recipe to aid in head formation. A generous amount of hops have been applied to bitter the beer in order to balance the malt and to add a floral aroma to the nose.  Dextrin malt has been added to increase the body to handle the added hops, and a small amount of caramel malt has been added to darken the color a tad in order to reflect the heftier body and alcoholic weight of this ale.  The alcohol content weighs in at an estimated 6.5%. While present, it is not overpowering and the beverage drinks easily. Fruity aroma’s from the UK Progress Hops, Coriander and Honey dominate the nose. The finish is dominated by the bittering affect of the summit hops.  The beer is dry, with a spicy yet refreshing depth. It has a consistency and mouth feel similar to a ginger ale, yet with much greater depth and complexity. The immediate finish is dominated by orange and citrus flavors.

This brew is a hybrid between a traditional American IPA and a Light Belgian Double Blonde Ale. The pairing suits both styles well. The brew has the body of a Belgian beer with all of the associated complexities, yet manages to have the dry finish of a highly attenuated IPA. The combination is a surprisingly good balance between hoppy, malty and Belgian flavor profiles.

Served under low carbonation the brew drinks similar to an English ESB perhaps due to the UK Progress Aroma Hops and Dry Ale Yeast which produces slight fruity esters. Under low carbonation the head remains small and lacy on the glass. Under high carbonation, the brew drinks closer to a Belgian double with a full 1 inch thick head of white foam originating from the underlying oats and dextrin malts.

If produced again, I would only potentially change the hop profile. A bittering hop and floral aromatic fruity hop should be used. The addition of a cascade hop or centennial hop during a dry hopping phase could potentially add additional citrus notes on the nose which may add additional complexity.  The citrus flavor in the brew today becomes present on the finish.

This beer would be best served as a late summer or early springtime beer. There is not enough color or malt backbone to serve as a fall or winter beer. It would pair well with most foods, especially spicy foods and aged sharp cheeses.

Artist: Jill Moser

Website: http://www.jillmoser.net/

Commentary: Jill Moser’s work is reminiscent of silent statues gazing out at a changing world.  Her works are created using monotone or black/white color palates which capture the solemnity of the works. Jill works on paper and canvas, creating her forms through silkscreen, printing and painting techniques. In the center of white negative space, slightly skewed to one side forms emerge. These forms often appear pre -complete in that the viewer is compelled to determine their final shape. The pieces are left abstract. Circles or lines jump from one side of the page to the other connecting and intertwining the forms. Jill’s work is austere, solemn and profound. One can view the pieces and uncover the beauty of winter. I would like to own one of her prints. I would place it in a calm room, a room for thought, a room for making decisions.

Artist: Able Parris

Website: http://ableparris.com/

I have been following Able’s work for the last two years.  Able Parris was one of the first “web 2.0″ creators of content that I found. Thus, his work and process has been an inspiration for the work that I produce.  If you are in need of a company logo, a website graphic redesign, a collage with artistic appeal or a view into social cultural-ism than Able Parris should be on your list of people to contact. Simply put, anything that you receive or buy from him should be treasured lovingly as a family heirloom. His work will stand the test of time. Subject matter for his collages include surreal realists works similar to those painted by Neo Rauch, Animals in odd planned interactions, themes of life and death, and historical remembrances to name a few.  His color palettes vary widely from blue, red, yellow, green, white and black, however always remain well balanced.  Able enjoys the act of drawing and frequently sketches in moleskin journals similar to those created by Hugh McLeod from gaping void.  Video flashthroughs of his sketches can be found on youtube and Able’s website.  Able is a master of Typography and has created a wide variety of corporate level work inclusive of collage and typography design aspects. Simply put, he is prolific.  For me, Able’s work is comparable to a modern “digital” version of Magritte. Creating is Able’s passion. His work causes one to question the realities that our eyes perceive daily.

I found the below poem from Arthur O’Shaughnessy on Able’s website. For those familiar with Roald Dahl, you may remember this from “Charlie and the Chocolate factory”.  Regardless, the poem is appropriate as a description of Able Parris, a mover and shaker.

We are the music makers,
And we are the dreamers of dreams,
Wandering by lone sea-breakers,
And sitting by desolate streams;—
World-losers and world-forsakers,
On whom the pale moon gleams:
Yet we are the movers and shakers
Of the world for ever, it seems.

Artist: D.B. Williams

Everyone needs a table to rest their work upon while enjoying a lazy day in the sun. These Flintstone style tables now adorn my porch. Over the Christmas holidays I scavenged about 10 feet of fallen cedar timber which a neighbor had lovingly left on the curb for the trash man to pick up. Such a waste I thought.  Five of those ten feet have been converted for use as drink rests, homework holders, or foot rests.  Each piece has a cherry wood top finished with tung oil for protection. The bases are free-hand routed ceder stumps with cement inlays.  The wood left showing has had a veneer of colored oil applied to further highlight the inlaying affect.   These took a few weekends to complete with the odd hour here or there. I have enjoyed the project, and will keep an eye out for more wood.

Artist: Igor Koutsenko

Website: http://igorkoutsenkoart.com/

Commentary:

Igor Koutsenko’s work is simply amazing. Igor is a prolific, awe inspiring creator of the modern age. He works in the mediums of linocuts, woodcuts, paintings, and drawings. His works range from colorful effervescent in the style of Matisse, to monotone prints colored in themes which mirror the subject matter of the work. Frequent images include picturesque European landscapes and scenery, human figures often with a musical or literature based religious theme, and still life compositions. I love his work. It will stand the test of time simply based on his hands virtuosity.

Artist: D.B. Williams

This painting was constructed on a 4 by 4 foot sheet of particle board. It is rare that I leave a piece as complete without adding a bit more detail or complexity. This piece stands on its own weight. The colors and negative space are well balanced. I’m not sure yet where this lovely lady will end up, but I do know that she will find a good home.

In this piece I have mounted woven plywood strips onto a 4 by 4 foot piece of particle board. The work is thus, quite heavy given that in some places three layers of wood and paint have been built up.  The colors chosen are secondary and primary in design. These are accented with vertical and horizontal lines surrounded by spherical shapes.  Additionally, off hues by blending white have been created to add an additional layer of complexity.

Artist: Robert Mihaly

Website: http://www.robertmihaly.com/

Commentary: There is a castle located in Rouge Mont, N.C. designed of stone, copper and wood. It is fabricated as a summer residence and artist study for Robert Mihaly. The fame of this oddly situated castle is how I came to discover Robert Mihaly as an artist. He works primarily in stone, however I have seen some of his wooden and medal sculptures which hold their weight when compared to some of his more traditional works. His stone sculptures are monumental, decorative in the Italian form. They are quite simply stunning. His paintings are less, formal in presentation and subject matter verging on modern realism with a pop twist. They are bright, intricately detailed works which comment on society at large. His work and website are worth checking out especially if you are located in the Durham, N.C. area.

Artist: D.B. Williams

On the right a sunflower print can be seen. It measures 18 inches by 12 inches.  I cut this print from linoleum.  4 layers of paint have been applied to produce a flower image which fills up the canvas.  I created 17 of these prints over the weekend mostly the same color. These have been signed and those still available can be found in my etsy shop.

Below is a 4 foot by 2 foot painting on wooden panel.  Spent grains from home brewing, a birch panel, enamel and oil paint have all been mixed to create another one of my treescape series.

Artist: My Mom

Website: http://www.facebook.com/#!/profile.php?id=701399196

My mother Janet Williams made this extra large quilt for me. It is hand sewn, stuffed with warmth, composed of some of my old triathlon race t-shirts and spare fabric.  It is large enough to cover an entire king bed. It is well constructed, full of sentimental value, and a labor of love. I’ll always treasure this work. The cats love it unfortunately – fleece and fluff help with that.

Artist: Michael Johansson

Website: http://www.michaeljohansson.com/

White framed by off white and black negative space.  Cushion and wooden frames. Metal and smooth.  Linear, vertical and horizontal. Abstract, functional and categorized. Cement and wood, with pipes. Random yet with pattern. Planned and unplanned. I love it.

Artist: Pretty Random Objects

Website: http://www.etsy.com/shop/prettyrandomobjects

I am  focusing on an etsy artist today namely because her work is modern, functional, and elegant. You should check out the etsy shop available through the link above.  This is collectible one of a kind stoneware created for specific purposes. Each piece is unique, charming and entirely handmade – thus it retains its value.  It is rare that I find a potter who creates functional work that I admire – as I am often drawn to the abstracted, however in this case Pretty Random Object’s work is captivating. In the example to the left a figurative animal vessel is shown.  The vessel is described as a bear however, the viewer could easily determine this to be representative of any number of animals.  Bottom line, the etsy store is worth checking out for the warm homely feelings that the images and creations produce in the viewer. These works would fit any lifestyle, and any person. They are vessels waiting to be filled with life.

Artist: Richard Salcido

Website: http://richardsalcido.com

Commentary: Richard Salcido’s creations are captivating, haunting and fleeting.  Human female forms emerge from densely laid patterns and loose threads.  The female forms are clad, seductive in nature, eyes staring directly at the viewer.  Heavy impasto techniques applied with and over the forms add to the ethereal affect of the painting.  Richard’s subjects evoke a feelings of personal revolution.  His figures possess a religious mythological base, often evoking qualities reminiscent of the Virgin Mary or mother Teresa in somewhat desolate or unnerved states.

Artist: D.B. Williams

Over the Christmas holidays I pilfered  a bundle of wire from my parents house. The remainder of the unused wire was discretely returned.  The used portion become fused with spent grains from home brewing and a gallon of left over paint from my wife’s parents.  The resultant creation of this odd marriage of materials is a 1 foot square man pretzel.  He (if you look close enough?) will be mounted on the bricks of my house overlooking the back porch.

Artist: B.J. Stevenson

Website: http://www.bjstevenson.com/public.shtml

Commentary: I discovered B.J. Stevenson’s work while searching out stone sculptors who worked in the Feather Rock medium.  There are not many who work in Feather Rock due to its coarse and potentially flawed nature. The rock is often filled with pockets of air which could prove to be a hindrance to an artist working to create a specific shape.  Many stone sculptors thus choose to work in either limestone, marble, alabaster or some other traditional rock medium.  The benefits of feather rock however should be considered before outweighing it as a potential medium.  Its weight to volume is easily half that of denser rocks. It can be carved without dulling tools and once a rough shape has been formed it can further be enhanced through sanding with an orbital or palm sander.

B.J. Stevenson forms large boulders of feather rock into delicate and inticrate seashell like designs. They are abstract in nature however they have rhythmic elements which unite the sculptures.  The viewer’s eye is thus forced around the object being drawn into the view of alternating negative and positive forms.  His works are left unpainted and are not polished, thus there is an earthy quality that the feather rock sculptures convey.

Artist: D.B. Williams

A rubber cut stamping of either the great white whale from Moby Dick or a teacup.  I prefer the idea of a whale.  This print was created in a Limited Edition of four. One of the stamping was accidentally stamped upside down.  Water color paint was rolled onto a rubber cut stamp.  Each color represents a subsequent pressing after cutting out the block.  The print is 18 inches by 12 inches in size on white heavyweight watercolor paper.

This work measures 12 inches by 18 inches. A tree scene is painted atop an acid stained steel plate.  This is #5 in a series of acid stained works.

Artist: D.B. Williams

This figure is carved from found cedar wood located in Durham, N.C. I loaded the tree trunk into my car two months ago after spotting it lying on the curb two miles from my home in a suburban neighborhood. In Ashville, I saw some cedar sculptures which changed my impression of carved wood as a medium. The artist hollowed out a 10 foot tall tree and created a double helix by further reducing the woods outer layer.  Taking off with the idea of negative space, I created this 3.5 foot form.  The sculpture is mirrored on both sides by organic shapes which frame the main form – a bust. The figure is mounted atop acid stained cement.

A human form can be seen arched forward either in the process of standing up or of sitting down.  The man is composed of bound steel filled with paint encrusted coffee grounds.  He sits atop a welded hubcap base.  He is roughly 3.5 feet tall.

Artist: Gustav Klimt

Website: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gustav_Klimt

Commentary: I did not study art history until my college and high school years were completed. Thus, as with most “famous” artist I only learned about Gustav after seeing the works of ‘lesser” artist in galleries and museums.  Gustav work for me surpasses many contemporary and historical artists.  He was one of the first modern artist that I studied and years later, he still remains high on my list of favorites despite the fact that I have viewed thousands of works. His work is unified through a style that is distinctly his. Gustav’s subject matter normally involves human male and female figures entwined in a close embrace or landscape scenes. His work bridges the gap between impressionism and pointillism. Squares and circles of colors unify and adhere to one another forming a patchwork of brilliant color. His works are large, stunning and captivating. They would bejewel any location with their presence. I would hypothetically of course, loose a pinky finger or more to own one.

Artist: Norman Rockwell

Website: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norman_Rockwell

Commentary: Norman Rockwell’s work began in the 1920’s and continued through the 1970’s. I am a child of the eighties. His work was so prolific, so consumed by American culture and so approachable that children from later generations such as myself have grown up with his images and have come to see them as part of the American cultural landscape.  His images of boy scouts engaged in manly activities are still in use today by numerous publications. His images of Rosy the Riveter are an icon of the WWII generation of American workers.  Norman Rockwell was an artist, an illustrator, and a husband. He married three times during his life and suffered from mental instability during the later stages. Through all of this, he continued to work as a full time painter.  His works reflected the stylized ideals of American life, despite the fact that his life was anything but stable or ideal. His technique especially regarding the presentation of the human form was masterful. His chosen subject matter unfortunately in most works was unappealing from an artistic sense in that he chose to portray illustrated staged scenes of idealized life rather than reality or hyper reality. Similar to Nazi wartime sponsored propaganda; Rockwell’s work straddled the line between art and artistic propaganda.  Regardless, Normal Rockwell was a masterful painter whose work has endured the test of time to date.  He has made his mark on the American art scene. His work spoke to a generation of people searching for the American Dream. Only time will tell if his work will speak so elegantly to those who view it in the future, or if it will simply be seen as a stalwart of false hope from our nations past.

Artist: Charmaine Olivia

Website: www.charbage.deviantart.com

Commentry : Charmaine Olivia portrays people and animals as her primary subject matter. Her colors are warm and soft, evocotave of water colors or light pastels.  This is a unique effect in that the works are primarily created using oil paints.  Her works are medium to small in scale, often being painted on 10 by 12 inch blocks of canvas. Her figures are realistic portrayals, slightly seductive with an emphasis on celebrating youth.  Whimsical feathers, birds or unique patterns adorn some of her works. These detailed regions of the paintings highlight the fact that Charmaine Olivia has a well honed painter’s hand. Every brushstroke is placed with a purpose. Her works are planned, however they retain a painterly quality which other realistic artist sometimes loose as the works approach photorealism.  Charmaine’s works are happy celebrations portraying the beauty in life.

Artist: Neo Rauch

Website: http://wapedia.mobi/en/Neo_Rauch

Commentary:Neo Rauch for me is in imposing figure in the art world. He walks the fine line between old and new. He is irrefutably German in subject matter. His paintings appear to alway shave a political agenda.  His characters originate from desolate tortured scenes.  Soldiers from WWI and WWII allied and axis dominate his works.  Maidens can be seen engaged in various forms of work. Paint tubes grotesquely large occupy many of the works spilling their colored fluid across the canvas. His color choices are often muted, and dulled browns accented with glints of green, blue, red and yellow. His works are entirely realistic stylized and figurative with an emphasis on narrative painting.  Particular attention is paid to motion in the works as well as shadowing and location of light sources.

Neo Rauch is a modern master.  if I could afford his works they would hang in every room of my house.

I have created a few of the paintings over the last half a year. I discovered the creation process while experimenting with metal and concrete acid stain. Apparently, metallic salts react with more than simply the lime in concrete. I like these paintings. They are simple, approachable, reproducible within reason and unique. They have my usual improptu style, yet they maintain a bit of dignified elegance. The copper hues don’t hurt!  More of these paintings will come. You can find the ones that I have available for sale through my etsy shop.

Artist: Faune Yerby

Website: http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=39276271&ref=sc_25

Commentary:

Black and White hand colored photos of New York city architecture and icons collaged on canvas.  The images are easily recognizable as being from New York.  The monotone nature of the coloring adds to the affect of faded age, vintage glory and unified cohesion.

Artist: Micheal Banks

Website: http://www.mikesarttruck.com/banks.html

Commentary: I discovered Micheal Banks while visiting “the krumpleton” a local dive bar in Chapel Hill, N.C. The walls are covered in numerous works by Banks. The pub master told me that he was personal friends with Micheal Banks and that the pictures were on display for the benefit of Mr. Banks. I being under the impression of a good scotch, enjoying a night out, dutifully walked around the large bar inspecting all of the works.

Micheal Banks works are composed of tar, plywood, and oil.  His work is unique in that few artist have found a way to work with tar in such a new and dynamic method.  Micheal applies tar to wood and while it is still wet, he carves his subject matter, humans, flowers and animals.  Once the initial tar layer has dried, Micheal reworks the paintings with lustrous color applications.

Micheal Banks redefined the possibilities of oil painting.

Artist: Sophie Blackall

Website:

www.sophieblackall.com
www.sophieblackall.blogspot.com
http://missedconnectionsny.blogspot.com/

Commentary:

Sophie Blackall is an illustrator living and working in Brooklyn, New York. She is an accomplished and well known artist and illustrator. I have chosen to highlight her, namely because it is rare for such an accomplished artist to post original paintings for sale on etsy.  Her works often include figures as the subject matter engaged in daily routines.  Often figures are conversing or interacting in some routine expected way with one another. The subjects are drawn in an expressive yet figurative artistic manner. The figures are characterized in order to highlight aspects that the painter deems as important, such as seemingly excessive flowing hair.

Her color palate is often flat and muted, with tone build through rounded shading.  Her works do not use texture and are 2D in pictorial design.  This gives each work a look similar to that evoked by the clay animation of Tim Burton in works such as “A Nightmare before Christmas.”  This effect is most likely due to Sophie’s illustrator background. It allows for the focus of the viewer to remain on the subjects face and actions rather than for the focus to spread across the viewing plane.  Thus each work draws the viewer in without overwhelming their senses in needless detail or aesthetic disharmony.

Artist: Donna Gotlib

Websites:

http://www.etsy.com/shop/DGotlib

http://twitter.com/DGotlib

http://brainzapart.blogspot.com

Commentary:

Donna Gotlib’s work available through her etsy shop is reminiscent of raindrop dissections, cellular biology and musical scores. Her works are vibrant, busy and expounding with motion.  Colorful spheres and geometric shapes cut across, emerge from and dissect the canvas. The subjects of her works are the interaction of these shapes. One is reminded of the anatomy of insects presented inches from the eye or the conglomeration of disparate flowers joined together through distant fields. Her works are composed using artist paper, paint pens, acrylic and gouche.  Red, yellow and purple are the primary color choices with color delineated by black line outlines, which are often surrounded by white negative space.  Her works are abstract, yet approachable, and unintimidating.

Artist: Nick Gentry

Website: http://www.nickgentry.co.uk/

Commentary:

Nick Genry’s work is simply put a modern breakthrough. His painting style is choppy and unsubtle in the works presented thus far. This is not to say however, that they are inglorious.  Instead, his style mirrors the dissonance associated with discarded computer memorabilia.  Busts and facial portraitures erupt from a facade of discarded VHS tapes and computer floppy discs. These found objects are placed into unique positions throughout the works and the color and form of the works highlights the specific orientation of the included objects. In one piece a VHS tape is subdued behind the eye’s of the portrait. Nick Gentry uses the plastic turn knobs on the VHS tape as the subjects eyeballs. In other works, floppy disc compose the background. They have been made neutral through an application of white paint and the subject has been painted on top of them as if the discs where once the property of the subject or more earily as if the disc contain a historical record of the subject. Yellow/Blue are the primary colors used, augmented by heavy layers of black and white. A sober Picasso meets the computer age.

Sculpture while once the step child of my art endeavors has slowly become a normal part of my nightly artist repertoire.  I had a desire to carve stone two years ago after seeing some of Robert Mihaly’s classical themed marble sculptures. I have yet to try my hand at a traditional sculpting style, however, through trial and error, I have come to develop a style unique to me. Often colorful, extremely tactile, and medium in scale my sculptural works display a common theme of harmony with their environment. They are born from the origins of French “trash art” where by found object are incorporated into the works or make up a major component of the works. Why buy materials, when Mother Nature, time and a bit of scouring fields can produce any number of useful artistic objects.
The piece above came from a number of joined sources. The central trunk of the sculpture is a green pine timber which was left over construction refuse from a rails to trails greenway. I freehand routed spaces to form a zebra like composition and filled in the holes with acid stained cement. The base of the sculpture is comprised of a carved cement base.  The top of the sculpture is hand carved limestone which is pitted with tiny pockets of quartz. I ruined a few carving tools working on this piece.  The stone was found while taking a vacation in the mountains of North Carolina in Boone.  The supporting rocks on the piece were collected across the U.S. by my wife – Lindsey. I decided to utilize them as stability rocks without her knowledge, and after much pleading, she eventually agreed to let me have them so long as I stayed away from the remainder of her collection.  This piece took a while to finish, given its totem pole construction and unplanned design. I am happy with the result – although I am unsure as to how to move it and look forward to the day it rests peacefully unmoved in a garden enclosure.

Artist: Emily Jeffords

Website: http://www.etsy.com/shop/EmilyJeffords

Commentary: Emily Jeffords works merge the artistic mediums of photography and painting.  Painting mediums include water and oils on artist quality paper.  Subject matter often involves ubiquitous springtime flowers and other familiar compositions such as a house or car lining a street.  Emily often uses vibrant, bright single toned colors which are balanced through delicate layering. Her photographic works focus on arranged wooden compositions which have texture as well as color. These compositions maintain an incredible tactile sense of depth. Colors for her works are often red/green based with hints of yellow and blue. Black also plays a predominate role especially when compared to the relative lack of white in her works.  Her photographs would well suit a small room with the aim of making it more inviting and adding subtle warmth. Her watercolors would suit any room with bright lighting and open spaces.

Artist: Silga

Website: http://www.etsy.com/profile.php?user_id=5749284

http://www.5erg.com/

Commentary: Colorful often yellow, red and blue in tone forms are present on Silga’s canvases. Miniature in scale, his works often use animals, flowers and cats as the primary subject matter. His works in clay and jewelry mirror his fragmented painting style. Splashes of color which seem random, yet add balance emanate from the works.

Artist: Colors of South – Yuriy Petrov

Website: http://www.etsy.com/shop/colorsofsouth

Commentar: Colors of South finds a balance between discord and symphony.  Acrylic colors disperse in Dionysian passion.  Colors are often separate, unmixed, contained within white lines.  Thin veils of black further highlight this color seclusion by tracing the outline of the white dividers.  Subject matter often includes fruit, cities, flowers, drinks, and plant material. The paintings while seemingly approachaple at first, astonish with details upon closer inspection. For instance ice cubes dance in the glass above, painted in such a way to only give the impression of there appearance.  Blue, yellow, red along with the obligatory white/black dominate as the main color schemes.  The works, given their vibrancy and size (window size) would well suite a kitchen, or bright living room.

Artist: Lisa Congdon

Website: http://www.etsy.com/shop/lisacongdon

Commentary:  Lone animals and tree scenes dominate Lisa’s work.  The color schemes are muted, well balanced, yet full of life.  Paintings are predominated by blue, red, green, and white.  Forms are seperated by color and texture rather than black lines.  Most images have a sense of depth created through shadowing and a general rounding of figures.  Lisa’s works are painterly in the color application techniques used.

Artist: Sricther

Website: http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=35636871

Commentary: Doodles layered into a strikingly complex composition surmise the style which Srichter’s work conveys. Most works are smaller scale in nature 11 inches by 14inches, perhaps due to the complexity and time demands of the painting style. All works are completed on a white ground with positive space filled out in black doodles often through the use of oil pastel or marker.  These doodles appear to dive into and emerge from each other.  White spaces are then subsequently filled into to complete a patchwork of color.  Red, yellow, orange. blue and green dominate the color palate, each radiating its warmth against the surrounding colors.  The images are complex in nature reminiscent of style composition from both M.C. Escher and Pollock.

Artist: Tali

Website: http://www.etsy.com/shop/tushtush?section_id=5745516

Commentary: Tali is an artist whom I found while scouring etsy. He sells a large number of smaller prints along with works in oil color and acrylic. Many use black/white grounding juxtaposed against light vibrant color schemes.  Human figures dominate the subject matter.  Yellow, Red and Blue reside as the primary color scheme.

Artist: Lucy V

Website: http://www.etsy.com/shop/lucyvnz

Commentary

The above dress is my second purchase from Lucy V etsy shop. When the first dress that I purchased (for my wife) arrived a few months back, it was laced with an aromatic perfume and wrapped in fine tissue paper.  Customer service and going the extra mile are key selling points for Lucy V.  On a whim, and simply because I admire Lucy’s style of dress making as does my wife, I decided to purchase another one of her dresses.  Coincidentally, I realized that she, like many Etsy sellers is an artist whom I admire.

Her primary medium is cloth with a leaning towards vintage fabrics, bright and/or muted colors, silk and lace. She weaves these disparate components into one of kind wardrobe compositions.  Articles created primarily include, dresses, aprons, and handbags.  Each article is handmade and well balanced in that it functions as a work of art as well as a functional article of clothing. Simply put, I love her work; I’ll come back to her store for years to come as long as she is still producing. Oh, I forgot to mention one of the best points; that her prices are comparable to mass produced clothing from a traditional brick and mortar store.

Artist: Chris Roberts

Website: www.Deadclownart.com

Commentary:

Chris Roberts is a younger, angrier Andy Warhol; that is in terms of the byproduct of his mind and the product of his hand. His paintings are dominated by compacted space filled with either lone figures or distorted facial visages.  His figures are separated from the background solely through the use of colored lines which creates a haunting affect.  The figures meld and merge with the background, thus creating a highly unified composition. The majority of images are produced in yellow, red, blue and green hues with minimal use of black or white for balancing.  Works include photography collages, mixed media, acrylic, spray paint and ink predominantly.  These paintings are not of a style which one would necessarily want to place in a refined living room, however they do have a place within the home of an art lover. Perhaps, a cozy warm breakfast nook or hidden reading retreat would be the best location for showcasing them.  Chris Roberts paintings demand attention and should thus be placed in a location where the viewer can stumble and reflect upon them without their presence distracting from other objects of interest in the surrounding room.

Chris Roberts images are simple, nostalgic in nature and compelling in subject matter.  The subject matter is readily approachable by masses of people due to the use of easily recognizable forms.  For instance, his works include images of Mao, Michael Jackson and Napoleon Dynamite.  Chris Roberts is an artist worth watching in the coming years.  As a semi abstract figurative artist he has a bright future.

Artist: Rodgy Roundy

Website: http://www.rodgerroundy.com

Commentary:

I found Rodgy Roundy through an RSS subscription to Artistaday.com.  Artistaday is a well designed user interactive forum/blogging site which has the aim of highlighting one artist a day.  The good folks there have been doing this for years, and have built up an extensive collection of searchable artist.  The format is such that an artist is highlighted using his/her bio alongside a picture of their work.  Artistday.com focuses on sculpture artist, photography artist and painters.  In short, every medium is accepted so long as the end result of the artistic process is a tangible object or image.

I am primarily interested in the painters and sculptors presented on the site.  Rodgy Roundy in particular arrested my scrolling hand as my RSS feeds rolled down the page.  His work has been to date a gleeful fusion of “Where’s Waldo and M.C. Escher”.  The focus of many of Rodgy Roundy’s work remains the interaction between many seemingly identical characters.  These figures interact with one another in such activities as swimming through a sea of letters, horse back riding, archery, building strange structural monoliths.  The figures are often female, often of a generic hair color (blonde, brown or red) and often wearing catholic school girl outfits. Color is not the primary focus of the works. In later works color was an accent to the composition. In present day it has been eliminated entirely from the palette. Earlier works from ten years previous are less complex in subject material and composition compared to those being produced today.  The viewer can readily see the progressive style that Rodge Roundy has cultivated over the years.

Artist: Sylvia Grantins

Website: http://tinyurl.com/2d9fdpk/

Commentary:

Sylvia’s Grantins paintings contain the “terroir” of her home. Sylvia’s paintings evoke the rich textures of Ontario erupting with springtime joy. Her works are bright, produced in a flurry of seemingly spontaneous yet purposeful action.  Her images evoke the mood of a sparsely populated meandering land of lonesome nestled hilltops, fields of pulsating flours, and trees blown through the wind.

Her art is primarily produced on mounted canvas. Dimensions vary between 4 inches square to larger museum sized panels.  Prices for her work are extremely reasonable given that they are one of a kind works.  The tonal value of the color of Sylvia’s work is high, in that when compared to a peacock feather her works would hold their own weight.  This does not mean, however that they are gaudy or ill conceived.  Instead, Sylvia manages to find a rich harmonious balance through the combination of brilliant liquid hues.  Often forms are created in a waving manner, through white infused paint, creating lava like texture. Once this layer has dried, subsequent layers of paint are applied to create forms such as poppy flowers or tree branches.  This process is repeated until the image is complete.  I am particularly fond of her smaller works when combined into a series of related frames.  These images 4 inches square when mounted as Sylvia does on wooden supports create a quilt like appearance which would warm any room painted in a muted earth tone.

Artist: Andrea Le Beau

Website: http://www.andrealebeau.com/

Commentary:

From Andrea Le Beau’s work, one can perceive that she is an artist who continually experiments with her technique.  Without inhibition she attacks the object of her focus with an artistic passion.  Her body of work includes traditional mounted linen with flowers as the main subject matter, clothing, works on found objects and encaustic creations.  When compared alongside one another, these works all convey the sense of originating from the same hand.  Primary similarities include an earth toned base coat with sparing applications of complimentary color applied.  Andrea Le Beau’s creations are simplistic in design, thus the images created are not overwhelming to the viewer.  They could be positioned in any space without fear of overburdening the room which they inhabit.  I have chosen to profile her work, namely because there is a vibrant painterly quality to her encaustic work.  For those of you unfamiliar with the term encaustic, it is an artistic application form whereby hot beeswax infused with color or left unadulterated is applied to canvas.  This technique has the ability to create window like semi translucent glazes or in the case of Andrea le Beau the entire composition of a work.  In the image above, yellow golden organic shapes emerge and dissipate from the ethereal canvas.  The monotone color palette adds rather than distracts from the complexity of the piece by further highlighting the color gradients.

Artist: Karl Greaves

Website: www.Karlgreaves.com

Commentary:

Think Jackson Pollock distilled into a purified essence.  Karl Greaves work can be categorized as refined entropy.  Quickly shaped semi organic forms emerge and dissipate into the canvas.  Separation between the “subject” and background is minimal however remains apparent in most work.  Delineation between forms is created by differences in color applications.  Human like forms often with a ghostly and disjointed appearance pervade Karl Greaves work.  The shadowing on these figures is reminiscent of that used by Salvador Dali on his surrealist renditions of human subjects.  The colors are vibrant; however remain harmonious throughout each piece.  Clashes of yellow, red, green and blue dominate with a preference for black over white.  The entire canvases are filled with color, thus making it harder to discern the “subject” from the image as a whole.  Forms and figures thus appear to spring from the canvas rather than being distanced from it.  The colors in most works appear to be layered and compounded to develop or enhance chosen areas of the works.  This technique is labor intensive in that Karl must work with a random unknowing right mind and an informed left mind, with the ultimate goal of finding a balance between chaos and form.

Artist: Jenny Watts

Website: http://www.friendsinmay.com

Commentary:

Jenny Watts is an artist that I have chosen to profile, namely because I admire her work – specifically her use of color.  Her work is reminiscent of early Marc Chagall, at least so much in the choice of color palette.  Her works are smaller in scale and synergize well when displayed in series.  Color schemes and style thus transfer well when comparing images side by side.  The color palette chosen primarily involves blue/green juxtaposed against hollow white/black figures or yellow/red juxtaposed against hollow white/black figures.  The backgrounds of most works have distorted rhythmic appearances which convey a weathered and antique appearance.

Animal forms and figures are the primary focal point of Jenny’s work.  The figures appear whimsical yet resolute, as if they are aware that one is watching their movements. They are drawn in a stencil/pop fashion in that most are white/off white with roundness achieved through the use of black lines outlining the counters.  The relative lack of color separates the figures from the background, thus giving the images a sense of depth.

Personally, I would like to see larger scale paintings produced, with the characters interacting together. This concept would produce a painting with potentially less visual impact at first due to the inclusion of more white from the figures; however it would be fun for the viewer to untangle the actions of the characters on display.  A painting of this style would require the viewer to actively engage in the painting.  Being said, the works as they stand now hold value and are unique and noteworthy on their own merit.  Jenny is a young artist with a bright future.

Artist: Jessica Doyle

Website: http://jessicadoyle.com/

Commentary

I set up a Google reader account about a year and a half ago.  For some of you, this is late in the game.  For others, I am ahead of the curve. I discovered Jessica Doyle while using Google image search to find artists work I liked.  I signed up for her RSS feed available at her blog and have been receiving regular blog updates for the last year. A paramount goal for any blogger is to provide regular updates with desirable content. Jessica Doyle has always provide regular and juicy content. Her personality shines through the written word on her blog.  Jessica Doyle is an artist who sells prints, original paintings, cards, and functional objects through etsy and other online venues. She is also heavily active in the online blogging world and has a number of side projects which she willingly details on her website. These include her vintage article blog, her home remodeling projects and personal details regarding her life.  I admire her forthcoming personal disclosures.  For an artist, selling art work can be as much about the impression of oneself as an artist that prospective buyers see as it is about the actual artwork itself. When a buyer purchases art, they are not only purchasing the art itself, they are purchasing a persona, an image, and perhaps a perceived artistic legacy.

Jessica Doyle has done well to create a web persona as an artist. Those who purchase her work can rest assured that her artistic images will endure, and hence the value of her work will increase as it ages.  Jessica draws/paints primarily figurative and representational forms.  The images are normally composed of muted color and the compositions are well balanced.  Most images convey a sense of negative and positive space created by the intertwining of whimsical forms.  Trees, flowers and animals are prominent in her work.

Artist: Hugh Macleod

Website: www.gapingvoid.com

Commentary Hugh would describe himself as a cartoonist. I would describe him as a marketer.  The two terms are not entirely distinct, in that one can be a cartoonist as well as a marketer.  He is unique in that many artists lack the desire or knowledge to promote their own work.  While artist often cultivate their own style and thus progress artistically, they often fail in the realm of progressive marketing.  Hugh Macleod has succeeded, and is continuing to succeed at both.  From his extensive blog, one can gather that he spent years in New York drawing small cartoons on the back of business cards. Those were Hugh’s “seven years” – the theoretical learning curve whereby one learns and becomes competent in any desired skill.  Those seven years were the backbone for Hugh overcoming what Seth Godin another great marketer and author of business related books would describe as “The Dip”.

Hugh’s cartoons are simplistic in design, often black and white, full of seemingly random forms, often containing figurative shapes which are used along with words to create an insightful joke. Additionally, Hugh Macleod has authored a book titled “Ignore Everbody” which is a motivational conglomeration of some of his prized cartoons along with reprocessed and synthesized thoughts from his frequent business/marketing related blogging.  Hugh Macleod is now working on his second book “Evil Plans”.  Furthermore, Hugh has experimented with some larger canvases as well as journal pages as an artistic medium.

He is the first artist that I am profiling, namely because his website and purpose have been an inspirational force behind my own planned blogging pursuits as an artist.  I am fond of some of his larger scale works as they evoke a sense of loneliness and emptiness within the viewer.  His smaller work on the back of business cards however will most likely be the vehicle of his notoriety.  There are few if any artist working in the same medium with such an available and prodigious body of work.  See for yourself by clicking her which will take you to a google image search for GapingVoid Hugh’s “brand”.

Blog Purpose

I am restarting blogging with a renewed and focused subject matter.  I took a break from blogging in mid 2009 in order to redesign the sight and focus on some sculpture projects. I plan to keep those projects moving forward, however at the same time, I also would like to contribute to the blogging world.

As normal, posts will include progress of my own projects which will be listed in the “painting” or “sculpture” categories.  Posts will also be focused on artists who I discover through research.  These posts will be categorized under the “Critique” category. Sources will most likely include eTsy, Artistaday.com, Flickr and other collaborative artist’s sites.

I commit to distributing two feed updates a week. Most likely this will occur on Monday and Thursdays however occasionally variances will occur.

A Bit About Me.

Daniel was born on Sept 28th, 1982 in Durham, N.C. He played in the woods building forts and pioneering through high school. He graduated from Durham School of the Arts in 2001. In 2005 Daniel graduated from UNC Chapel Hill with a degree in Political Science and Economics. Daniel raced as a professional cyclist and as a professional triathlete through his collegiate years. Daniel no longer races professionally however he can still be seen at occasional marathons, cycling events or ultra-runs.  He would describe himself as an intellectual hippie. Daniel’s vice’s include Espresso, Red Wine, Chocolates, Whiskey and Good Greens. Daniel lives with his Wife Lindsey and their two cats Alibaster and Maeve at their home in Durham, NC. Daniel graduated with an MBA from Campbell University in the fall of 2009. Daniel Is an Artist.

D.B. Williams

© www.paintmywords.com