My first show was a wonderful experience. Gabriel and David Colman, owners and curators of The Venue, put together a fantastic group show for myself and two other artists, Lindsay Hine and Tom Maher. The Venue did an excellent job of bringing the three of us together, and the installation looked amazing.
Despite our varying mediums, we showed strongly together. Our mediums ranged from finely painted acrylics (Tom), to collage photography (Lindsay), and finally to my very own gel pen/gesso pieces. The theme for the show was officially the “Spirit of October,” but I think the unifying aspect was the idea of nostalgia. Tom’s paintings told tales of remembered life experiences. Lindsay’s collage pieces were created from actual photographs from the 1930’s and 1940’s. Mine are intended to call into mind the simplicity and pure beauty of the past, showing my interpretation of that as an idea.
It was a great experience through and through, and I’d like to thank all involved, including those patrons of the arts who made it out to see it in person. I hope to show again at The Venue just after the new year, only this time it may be a solo show. I’ll keep you all posted as to any official word…
Cheers,
John
This photo was taken during the demolition of the old Lee’s Karate building on South Walnut. Demolition always signifies the passing of an old friend, giving way to something new. Looking back, I’m happy to have captured this fleeting moment on film, as it will never exist like this again.
Bombs concludes phase I of project35, and marks the beginning of phase II. This photo has long been a favorite of mine, and I’ve been holding off its production until I had the right board and the right frame of mind. As the final sketch, I thought the timing was right. And the final board (of the original cutting) fit well with the composition.
It is perhaps the smallest board of all, comparable to sketch 2: Bloomington Quarry. As you recall, sketch #2 is where I began my experiment with gel pens. I learned from that piece, as it is the only photo I chose to produce twice. I discovered the nature of things; how the wood held the ink, how the ink behaved on the gesso, how each composition created a new set of challenges. Over the course of this process, I’ve learned the difficulties involved with the medium, and using the sketches from phase I as “studies”, I’m excited to move forward.
Bombs Over B-town has brought me to a new beginning. Imagine the original twin bedboard, used to divide and saw into these ten peices, nearly 7 feet in length. Now imagine Bombs projected at that scale…
The energy and natural power of a southern Indiana forest seems to surge through this lunging black lab. A struggle exists between the steep slopes and the strained effort of the beast soaring uphill. Draw your own parallels to society either locally or globally, but I think the most striking takeaway is the fluidity of action. Yes, it’s uphill and conditions are harsh, yet the animal glides forth headstrong unaware, born of the same hills he struggles wildly against.
Aside from my usual bag of tricks, a new feature that I’m happy about in this piece is the way I handled the trees. I used a stained-glass approach to balance out the fade of dark to light (from left to right). The darkest point is the apex, where the dog’s tail meets with the distant woods, each headed in their opposed directions. As the woods reveal themselves towards the right side of the piece, they gradually become lighter in shade. Of course this two-dimensional approach to defining depth does not exist naturally in the wild, but optically it achieves my intentions of establishing depth and distance. Read the rest of this entry »
This is a WWII memorial located in downtown Bloomington, in the courthouse square. There is something about the angle, the soldier and the old sign that breathes momentary life into the photo, creating a quick snapshot of that era. I realize this slide is out of order, so please refer to Sketch 6: Bloomington Radio for the final photo adapation.
I snapped this shot while traveling back to our Chicago hotel in February of 2006. We were in town celebrating my mother-in-law’s 60th birthday, and celebrate we did 
We dined at North Pond, and the light snow shown in this photo lasted through the weekend, making the event even more special.
I actually finished this one prior to the completion of Sketch 7: Bay of Las Crucesitas, due to a much more pressing deadline: my wife Stacey’s birthday. Stacey thankfully loves my artwork, and I feel like whenever I create something for her, I push myself beyond a certain comfort zone. Read the rest of this entry »
Here is the original photo, taken during a July 2008 wedding trip to Huatulco, Mexico. My good friend Rex Fryhover and his wife Adela Ramirez (Fryhover) were married there, and the sublime location was more inspirational to me than they probably know.
I’ve learned from each piece, progressively, and Sketch #7 is no exception. Read the rest of this entry »
