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Shaken, not stirred

Shaken, not Stirred
oil on canvas
48″x60″

An oldie but goody. Mark bought it. One of my old favorites.

I was a bit lubricated on martinis – yes Boodles gin and a pretense of Noilly Prat Vermouth.

My life today is more stirred yet not shaken. I pay attention to politics, both local and national, and yet do not sweat. I am more taken with Doris Day – Que Sera Sera – than I am with the news of the day.  Fifty-seven years of bullshit and I have finally come to the realization that everything shakes out in the end, even slow ketchup.

 

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Catching Up

Jake’s O Mine

Jakes’s O Mine
oil on canvas
8×10

It has been a while since I have had time to post. Recently, while talking to Dusty, the bartender at Lucky Strikes, I realized that I have been amiss at not posting my first Arizona bar series painting.

Lucky’s is where the infamous Jake’s O Mine was located. Jake’s was distinguished by its peculiarly low bar, surrounded by kitchen chairs rather than bar stools.

Jake’s had a tattoo artist on premises. Whereas almost every bar has a sign requesting that no bike club colors be displayed, Jake’s had no such policy.  Some nights half the clientele were sporting red and white. Continue reading “Catching Up”

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Abstractly thinking

abstractRGB
Oil on canvas

Sometimes I have to clear my head while in the studio. Working on a representational painting requires a certain amount of discipline and concentration.

I a not a strict representational painter, rather I take elements in real life and arrange them in what I hope is a pleasing and cohesive work. I follow the rules so far, stretch the rules where it pleases me. Continue reading “Abstractly thinking”

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Pat Witt and the Barn

This is where it all began.

Well, not me and art. I was drawing since I was 5 years old. Painting since I was 13. An asshole since birth.

In 1996 I began attending the barn. I grew up hearing about the Barn, all of my friends attended. We were poor and my parents could not afford to send me. My dad referred to Pat Witt as “that crazy artist lady”. Continue reading “Pat Witt and the Barn”

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Something Mo’

The second book I published, after my own, was a gift to Morel “Mo” Pagano. It too was a compilation of articles originally published in Inferno newspaper. It was titled Mo Knows.

The book was a surprise and a birthday gift to him.

I have never had traditionally usual friends. Usually only one or two close friends. Mo was in his 80’s when we met. He became Liz and my best friend in short order. Continue reading “Something Mo’”

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Bar Exam

Bar Exam Bar Exam – musings from the bar stool

It is almost ten years since I published Bar Exam – musings from the bar stool.

The book began life as a series of articles I penned for the underground arts newspaper, Inferno – no boundaries. Full disclosure – I was the publisher and editor of Inferno.

Bar Exam contains full color reproductions of my American Bar series of paintings, paired with the articles from Inferno, rewritten and reformatted to fit into the book.

This was the first of several books that I published.

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Dowsing

Call me a skeptic.

The Superstition Mountains have a lot of legends and myths surrounding them. Or maybe they surround the myths and legends.

I have been fortunate to have met many of the old timers that grew up chasing the Lost Dutchman’s mine.

The Dutchman was neither lost, nor Dutch. He did find gold. He died, and his mine, which may have never been a mine, has been lost. Continue reading “Dowsing”