The last month I have been running around like a madman, working like crazy. Unfortunately it has been focused on paying the bills and not making art. I haven’t managed to pick up a paint brush in way too long but, soon I hope to be back on track and working on new paintings. In the mean time, my studio mate Liz has been working on a project that is sure to inspire nostalgia. When she realized that the scheduled opening at the Distillery Gallery fell on September 2nd, she was inspired to create a show, fitting of the date, 9-02-10. I am not sure I can even do this idea justice so I will just quote the press release here.

“The hit television series Beverly Hills, 90210 premiered 20 years ago. To mark the anniversary of this cultural phenomenon, The Distillery Gallery presents 9.02.10: Teen TV Residue. The exhibit focuses not only on the impact of the 90210 sensations of past and present, but on the impact of teen television as a whole. Artists’ reactions to additional shows like My So-Called Life, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and Gossip Girl invite the viewer to fathom the idea that you don’t have to still be a teenager to feel the impact of teen TV.”

It is sure to be a fun show and, afterwards we are having a party back in Studio 11 with a performance by a great Boston band, Hallelujah The Hills. We are all pretty excited to have these guys in the studio (how could I not be excited, the bass player is also named Nick Ward!). These guys are great and have taken time away from actual paying gigs to come put on a show here so, come on out, enjoy some music and maybe even slip a dollar or two into their hat.

As usual, if you plan on attending, log into Facebook and click here to join the event page to help spread the word and get updates.

With a little luck, I will have a lot of new art and Studio 11 events (more concerts) coming up soon so, stay tuned!

Recently I had my friends from Papercut Magazine over to the studio to shoot photos for their cover. The shoot was a lot of fun and we all got to talking about and fashion and this crazy city that we all live in.

Click on any image to view the full size version on Flickr.

When it was time for the next issue, it seems they did not forget the little people and they revisited me in Studio 11 at The Distillery to sit down and talk again. Read the interview in this months Papercut.

Also, I was featured in last months Poets And Artists Magazine so, if you missed that, be sure to check it out.

Last weekend (as you probably know if you are reading this) we had our annual Spring Open Studios at the Distillery Building in South Boston. It was a pretty successful afternoon despite some crazy weather and I think there were around 400 people who showed up to tour the building and check out all the artists that live and work here.

My studio, all clean and ready for visitors (including two of Bob’s large drawings).

Open Studios day is always stressful despite being a lot of fun. I never realized it when I was poking through other buildings during open studios as a visitor but, from an artist’s perspective (at least from THIS artists perspective), it is a very exhausting experience to put your work and your life out there for direct public consumption. People are never afraid to tell you what they REALLY think of your work and, while it’s always great to get feedback (good or bad), an entire day of hosting a non-stop critique really wears you out! Of course it is always worth it and I enjoy the chance to meet new people and talk about art.

Like any good host, Studio 11 spent all day Saturday cleaning and setting up (even if it didn’t show!). In a stroke of pure genius, Tony from Chromalab broke out some lawn furniture and set up a comfy little spot (in front of Bobs two large drawings) for him and I to sit, relax and greet people as they came through. We invited Alycia and Valerie to join our studio for the weekend so that they would have a spot to setup and show off their paintings and they thanked us by, as usual, being better prepared, better looking, and selling twice as much as everyone else combined. Jarrett even whipped up a few batches of tasty bloody maries to give out to anyone who was interested.

During a break in the action I managed to sneak away and check out a few other studios to see what they had to offer. Walked over to Dyslexic Press and checked out some of their new prints, really cool stuff. Then went up to see Kenji but, he was surrounded by people, discussing one of his ridiculously intricate stencil paintings so, I moved on. Popped into Scott Chasse’s studio where he had the best snacks imaginable; nilla wafers and fresh strawberries, and of course his bold Burt-centric paintings. Checked out my friends from Rope-A-Dope Press who put on an awesome show. Interesting hand made books, live music, poetry readings and tasty home brewed beer. Finally, I stopped into see James Weinberg and checked out some really great screen prints of his. He had some new prints that had a super clean image printed over layers and layers of test prints, made for an awesome effect… Really wanted to go back and use some of the profits from my own sales to buy one of them but, instead I got ravenously hungry and blew my cash on a big plate of fajitas and marguritas. Obviously I forgot to take any pictures so, check out these photos I stole from the Distillery Gallery Flickr feed.

Click on any image to go see the full size version on Flickr.

Like I said, all in all a really fun day. Met a lot of interesting people and got some great feedback on my new paintings. Sadly, excluding one Mass Art student who wanted to make sure I knew there were still people studying traditional painting techniques in this city, nobody called me out on my ridiculous statements so, I will continue to declare Studio 11 the figurative art capital of Boston (this isn’t true, my Mom made sure to remind me not to forget HER favorite figurative artist in Boston, Vanessa Irzyk). Hopefully everyone who came enjoyed themselves and those who missed out, maybe you will be able to visit in October during our next open studios weekend. If we met and/or you liked my paintings, make sure to drop me an email or, post a comment, find me on Facebook/Twitter and keep in touch.

Before I get into this mornings post, I have a little announcement for those of you getting blog updates in your email. I plan on posting here more often; I want to expand this section of my site to include more than just updates on my artwork and events. So, if you have signed up for email updates for that reason and don’t want my semi-art related ramblings polluting your inbox (I don’t blame you), just let me know. Shoot me an email and I will move you from the blog mailing list onto a new mailing list that will only include updates on completed paintings and upcoming event announcements. For everyone else reading my blog page, expect more postings about whatever half-baked art related thoughts float through my brain.

That said, this morning I was thinking about art.

I was actually a little depressed because it occurred to me that I just don’t know any other figurative painters in Boston. I admit that I am not exactly an authority on the Boston art scene but, as far as I can tell, when it comes to young figurative artists in this city there is Bob (my upstairs studio mate) and there is me. Now, I admit that statement is pretty ridiculous sounding but I have just not been able to find evidence to the contrary.

With that in mind I would like to invite everyone who sees this to prove me wrong. Please! If you are a Boston area contemporary realist artist, speak up. If you know figurative artists working in the area, recommend their work to me. Send me an email, post a comment or even better, come by open studios next Sunday and talk shop with me.

Seriously, come prove me wrong, I would love to find more people around Boston doing this type of work. Until then, I am going to stand up and proclaim Studio 11 the figurative art capital of Boston.

I put the finishing touches on the last sunbather painting and hung it in the gallery for the Studio 11 retrospective show. It looks great hanging above the old church pew in the back of the gallery and I am pretty excited to see the entire show, once the rest of the work goes up. Should be a good mix of artists from Studio 11′s past so, be sure to come by Thursday night between 6 and 9 pm for the opening.

With the last piece finished I started another sunbather painting. I have barely even started painting it and I am already excited to see it completed. Here is a quick camera phone shot of what I have gotten done so far: