Goin' in for the Master Stroke

Seriously, painting with this guy is one of my favorite all time things! Unlike his father, this dude is a conceptual artist. I love asking him about his creations. Every stroke, mark, and bit of found debris has a purpose. Huzzah for studio time!! Viva la Vida!

Mr. Funny (PW Long) 2011

Mr. Funny (PW Long)
Acrylic and house paint on found wood
48" x 24"

So in my music pantheon, none are much higher than the sporadic, nomadic, elusive, and intense Preston W. Long of such awesomeness as Mule (the truest bluest hillbilly punk that there ever was) and PW Long's Reelfoot (same bombast, a little less piss, little more soul.) Mr. Long's solo stuff of late has been freakin' amazing as well...Remembered, awesome album, seriously, I cannot paint and have a few frosty ones with while playin' without a little choke up and a bit of tears...damn powerful. Anyway, I saw this guy play at the High Five, and it was liking watching a legend make a holy din miracle before a chosen few...damn amazing.
So this is it the young and less young...still intense perhaps even more focused now.
"You could put your wishin' in one hand and shit in the other and to see which one fills up first"...wisdom my friends

Viva La Revolucion (El Vez) 2011

"Viva La Revolucion" ( El Vez)
48" x 42"
acrylic and house paint on found wood

This is one of my favorite pieces so far this year. First large piece I have done in a while. El Vez is billed as the Mexican Elvis, which he is, but he also so much more...listening to one of his albums is like watching the Simpsons (kinda). Its a lot more enjoyable if you are musically learned...El Vez is like a pop culture, pop music rock'n'roll history crash course. Honestly none of this does him or his art justice, just check it out!! Viva la Viva!!

Dirty Doctor Galapagos (2011)

"Dirty Doctor Galapagos"
25" x 24.5"
acrylic and house paint on found wood

Roughly based on Philly band, Man Man. I love the sickly green the yellow turned on the old wood...sweet eats!

Message on a Bottle

Pierce (Jeffrey Lee Pierce) 2011
ink and house paint on rum bottle

Curless (Dick Curless) 2011
ink and house paint on bourbon bottle

Childish (Billy Childish) 2011
ink and house paint on rum bottle

It is seriously awesome having fun with art again; doing things I have always wanted to try, but for some reason haven't...its a good thing!

Mike and Ike (Mike Watt and Ike Turner) 2011

"Rocket 88" (Ike Turner)
acrylic and house paint on found wood
9" x 18"

Say what you want, the dude may have been a sonabitch, but he was one badd-ass musician. His version of Rocket 88 is credited as being one of thee first rock'n'roll songs ever recorded. Let's not forget to mention his funk and soul stuff from the late 60s and early 70s...schmokin', and of course the sheer wickedness of Tina Turner and her work with ol'Ike. I was really looking forward to his collaboration with the Black Keys, but sadly he passed before the project was completed.

"Hyphenated Man" Mike Watt
acrylic and house paint on found wood
22" x 24"

The Flannel -Clad Punk Rock Opera writin' hardest working man in the music biz...Mike Watt. I am looking forward to hearing his latest album, Hyphenated Man. It is all based on the artwork of Heironymous Bosch! Sounds art-nerdy- sweet!

Fun and Loose: Thee Billy Childish and "Skip" Spence (2011)

"Oar" (Alexander "Skip" Spence
acrylic and house paint on found wood
12" x 14.5"

"Thee Wild Billy Childish"
acrylic and house paint on found wood
16" x 16.5"

So I have really been diggin' the portraiture of Barry McGee lately. His use of line is gorgeous and jaw-dropping. Line is the fundamental element of all things art, so I tell my Kindergartners. I have even been doing mini-portraits on old liquor bottles. Of course they are totally gutbucket and raw, not as beautifully polished as Mr. McGee's. Oh well, I do however, love getting back to just line and a few colors. These pieces are fun and relaxing.
Thee Wild Billy Childish has been an idol of mine for quite some time. The dude makes killer punk-blues-folk-calypso sounds, paints and makes art in general, he's a writer, a producer, a publisher, and all around renaissance man with a penchant for anarchy...love'm.
Alexander "Skip" Spence was a casualty of drug culture in the 60's and never quite recovered after a stay in mental hospital...a wild story involving a fire axe and possible black magic and a lot of drugs, but in a moment of sheer genius and lucidity, he crafted one of thee greatest albums ever, by himself and a producer...Oar. Check it out, if you haven't.

Easy Rider Blues (Moise Robin) 2011

Easy Rider Blues (Moise Robin)
ink and acrylic on found wood
14.5" x 16"

Moise Robin was next in line, following the unfortunate death of Mayeus LaFleur, as Leo Soileau's accordionist. Moise and Leo recorded many classic Cajun sides together. Moise lived a long prosperous life.

Mama, Where You At? (Mayeus LaFleur) 2011

"Mama, Where You At?" (Mayeus LaFleur)
ink and acrylic and found wood on found wood

LaFleur's story is a brief one and a sad one. He was abandoned by his mother while he was an infant, raised by his father til his was a toddler, and then given to an uncle when his father could no longer raise a child and make a living. His uncle taught him to play accordion, and he quickly became one of the finest musicians around Louisina. So good in fact, one of the greatest fiddlers of the time, Leo Soileau, made him his partner. Together in 1928, they recorded one of the first Cajun records. On the day Mayeus got paid, he said he was going to use the money to find his mother.
Coming home from a gig, Mayeus stopped at a friend's ( a liquor bootlegger)house for a drink, when a man came up and started a quarrel with the bootlegger over a truck and broken porch. The man started shooting and shot the bootlegger and Mayeus ran to his friend's side to get him to safety and took a bullet to the heart and died instantly. He never had the chance to hear his own record. Told you it was a sad one.

Iron Leg (Mickey and the Soul Generation) 2011

"Iron Leg" (Mickey Foster and the Soul Generation)
Ink, acrylic, pop can bottoms, and found wood on serving tray and cookie sheet

Mickey and Soul Generation were one of thee first albums that got me into old school funk and soul. I was a long time fan of the organ groove/soul jazz/ Dr. Smith/Jimmy Smith/and of course Booker T. thing, but this was something new and fresh. It had those bubblin' organ grooves, but was served with a side of grit and looseness...killer stuff!
I wanted to do this painting on a old muffin tin, but the thrift stores were fresh out, so I made my own out of an old cookie sheet and pop can bottoms. Mickey is painted on a very fancy mini-serving tray. This is one of those pieces done during paint night, where only non-project oriented pieces can be worked on...kinda like the old days at Kent, with "passion night" as we called it. This one's for you Doug and Jerry!

The Stuff in Between the Stuff That Don't Gets Seen

"Tea Time With El Diablo"
Acrylic, enamel with sawdust, tea bag, and cheerios, found rope on found wood

"Brother Gut-String"
Acrylic, enamel with sawdust and dirt, cheerios, found tin lid, and rope on found wood

"Old Goat"
Acrylic, enamel with sawdust, tea-bag, cheerios, and found rope on found wood

"The Flower of the Diamond Lounge"
acrylic, enamel with sawdust, cheerios, plastic flower, and found rope on found wood

New gutbucket art, painted quickly and quietly over the span of a couple days. I do not know if they will ever see gallery walls., but it was fun to paint this loose. My son was the one who added dirt to "Brother Gut-String", thanks son!

Hot Bat/ Phill-Ay-Oh-Soul (Honus Honus) 2011

Hot Bat/ Phill-Ay-Oh-Soul
26" x 31"
All kinds of materials on cardboard and found wood

One helluva nice guy from a helluva nice band...Honus Honus, one of many hairy dudes fronting the white clad junkyard art damaged Philly doo-wop band, Man Man. Catch these guys live if you can, you will not be disappointed!

High Water Everywhere (Charlie Patton) 2011

"High Water Everywhere"
ink and acrylic on found chunk of ceramic drain pipe
7.5" x 2" x 11.5"

The irony of it all, is twice this image got washed away from the surface: once via the clear-coat, the second time due to nature. Charlie Patton, king of the Delta Blues, wrote several songs about a huge flood he witnessed, back in the day. Thanks to Daniel Tiberius for helping me connect the dots.

Trouble Weighs A Ton ("Grocery Store" Dan Auerbach) 2011

"Trouble Weighs a Ton"
ink, acrylic, found paper, found objects on found wood
30" x 5.5" x 29"

This here goes out to Daniel Tiberius Schmidt and Ty"rone" Debvoise(?)...good ol' everyman Dan Auerbach of the infamous Black Keys. Now Mr. Auerbach probably doesn't know about his blues moniker, "Grocery Store", but there is a story behind those words, and it isn't really even a good story, but...Dan Schmidt was shopping for groceries in Akron and saw a guy who looked like Dan Auerbach also shopping for groceries. So Dan Schmidt casually asked Dan Auerbach if indeed he was Dan Auerbach and Dan Auerbach said indeed. Dan Schmidt being a very respectable and respectful person, left it at that and let the man shop for groceries in peace.
Anyway, it got me thinking that even wicked 6 string shredders, like Dan Auerbach, need to shop for groceries too...a kinda equalizer of sorts...anyway, everyman "Grocery Store" Dan Auerbach. (And the moniker is helpful when I am telling other people the story so they do not get the two Dans confused.)

The Denver Gentleman (David Eugene Edwards ) Nov. 2010

David Eugene Edwards, I am not going to write a lot about this man, other than he is very pinnacle of passion when it comes to his faith, performing, and his craft. I have the utmost respect for this gentleman. I had heard he is a self-taught musician and plucked his first banjo from someone's garbage can...and the rest is history. Check out 16 HorsePower and the Woven Hand, two powerful tomes to this man's legacy!

Ink, acrylics, found objects, found wood on found wood

Banjo (November 2010)

Something new and something fun!! I had been listening to a lot of old-timey music and the sweet tunes of Banjo Outlaw Demi-God, Charlie Poole. This baby is life size and fame of all found objects: two hubcaps, fence wood, garden wire, twine, and curtain brackets.

Angola Special/ Two Wings (Robert Pete Williams) Nov. 2010

I started this piece in the summer. Had it built and inked, but just couldn't bring myself to start painting it for some reason. I started painting it toward the end of October and finally finished it in November.
Robert Pete Williams was a Louisiana blues man (kinda like the Thelonious Monk of country blues) who was imprisoned in Angola State Penitentiary for homicide. He claims to have shot a man in self-defense, but was sentenced to life in prison. Long story short, a folklorist did some field recordings in the prison, and couldn't believe the stuff coming out Robert Pete Williams. In a plea for Williams' freedom, the folklorist played the music for the judge. The judge was impressed and set Williams free with several years of not being able to leave home. The probation ended just in time for Williams to enjoy the folk and blues revival of the late 60's and 70's.
Anyway, ink, acrylic, and found chicken wire on found wood

One, two, skip a few, 75

Excuses, Excuses....I gotta million of them, but I have been painting. I have painted a lot of little pieces. I would sketch them out in the morning, ink at night, paint the next morning, again and again. Many of the pieces were and are for J. Gumbos in Gahanna and the new one in Polaris, as well as keeping my hand/eye coordination sharp.
These passed few months have really made me appreciate free time...I rather be with my newly improved healthy wife, my wonderfully eager for experiences son, and our friends, family, and of course, which has always been the case: painting. I much rather make the art,than promote it, catalog it, and blog about it. Anyway the next few posts of kinda like a greatest hits of sorts. I will be posting the smaller pieces as time permits. Happy Thanksgiving!

Summer Baby

Our summer baby turned two this season. Ezra kept busy lookin' for bugs, huntin' for spiders, going down big slides, diggin' in the dirt, help cutiin' the grass, helpin' growing things in the garden, going potty outside, skinny dipping, gettin' dirty, and wearing bandages on pretend injuries...what a fantastic few months!!!

Lust for Life (Iggy Pop) 2010

The Rockin' Iguana, godfather of punk, Iggy Pop from his fantastic album Lust for Life (one of my top 100 albums I ever heard). Nice quick little piece: ink, acrylic, and pine cone pieces for teeth on found wood...worth a million in prizes!!!