Paint My Words

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 FlandersRred, 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 race the alcohol percentage and lower the final gravity. I noticed a slight pellicile 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 bodies 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 notes of 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.

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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.

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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://sylviagrantins.blogspot.com/

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

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