May 2008 I just received word that my work will be included in the fall edition of Studio Visit Magazine, a new publication from Open Studios Press (publisher of New American Paintings). Carl Belz, Director Emeritus of the Rose Art Museum at Brandeis University, juried the competition. The response to the call for entries was apparently fairly robust, with over 1000 artists submitting work. There will be two magazines with roughly 150 artists in each. I'm happy to announce that The Bakersfield Museum of Art will feature the work of seven encaustic artists, mine included, towards the end of this month. The opening reception will be Thursday, May 22nd. I will have five pieces on display. At the end of June, Garson Baker Fine Art of New York will include my work in a group show with at least a dozen other artists. The show will expose new clientel to my work and will be a prelude to my solo show at Garson Baker Fine Art in October. I've been in a groove of sorts lately, focusing on a new direction in my work. "Easy Street" and "Me and the Man," two of the paintings which best reflect this new direction, are on my site and my page at Garson Baker Fine Art, respectively. Two other similar pieces will be on the Garson Baker Fine Art site in the next couple of weeks. The new work is an attempt to depict my daily struggle to cope with some of my darkest fears, most of which revolve around losing the tenuous hold on my dreamy, gratifying lifestyle. The scenarios range from a propped-up bed pursued by a thirsty, empty cash register to a change of hapless, ordinary clothes being pulled toward the abyss by a group of overly-starched suit coats. Although somewhat revealing, I find that making such work is a catharsis of sorts. While I don't get to purge myself of these fears, I at least get to put them on the table and have a good laugh at the ridiculous nature of how they've been portrayed. Also, Julie Baker has announced that Julie Baker Fine Art in Nevada City will close its gallery space at the end of this month. According to Julie, the decision to close the gallery was based largely on a desire to focus more on her new New York gallery, Garson Baker Fine Art. The gallery is in NYC and located on 25th St., Chelsea. LIVE IN L.A.? please drop by Julie Baker's booth at The LA Art Show (January 23rd-27th) - I'll have 5 new pieces on display. RECENTLY... Well, 2007 has passed, and as I look at the empty closet where I keep my inventory of paintings, I can't help but be thankful for the success that has come my way. Of all the work I've created over the past two years, only one damaged piece remains! Last year ended with a half dozen galleries contacting me about potential shows. In the last two months of the year, 10 paintings sold with three of the galleries that already represent me. To cap things off, Julie Baker sold the final two paintings at Flow in Miami and came home with a list of collectors wanting to see new work when it becomes available. October, 2007 Garson Fine Art in Chelsea, New York has just facilitated the acquisition of my piece, "Mother Hen," by the The Progressive Corporation, which owns a sizable and impressive collection of contemporary art. It's the fourth well-known collection to acquire a piece of mine this year. The piece was part of the group show, "Tease," at Garson Fine Art, which closed this month. Also, for art aficionados living in Houston, I have a solo show which opens Thursday, October 25th, at Koelsch Gallery. Koelsch recently relocated to a beautiful new building built specifically for the gallery in the Heights. Houston is my old stomping grounds- I grew up and went to college there. It will be great fun to reunite with friends and family who still live there, hopefully with a glass of wine in hand at the opening! Next stop on the train is Julie Baker's booth at Flow: Invitational Art Fair in Miami, December 6-9th. Flow, in it's second year, is a satellite fair to Miami-Basel and is the brainchild of Julie Baker and Matt Garson. The fair received great reviews last year and should do even better this year, as it has added galleries such as Koelsch to a lineup that is stacked with heavyweights like Marcia Wood and Toomey-Tourell. August, 2007 My summer break is over, capped off with a week spent lazily lounging in the scorching heat and desert dust of Burning Man. If you've never been, Burning Man is a magical reprieve from what "Burners" typically refer to as the "Default World," otherwise known as everyday reality. For me, the event essentially serves to shake up my stale perceptions of life that gradually form during the fifty one other weeks of the year. It's also an artistic catalyst that infuses creative energy and excitement into my otherwise often tedious existence. Ideas conjured up at Burning Man or inspired by what I see there spill over into both my artwork and family life. It's an experience that I've grown quite attached to and would miss dearly if it were to cease to exist. Well, as far as my art career goes, things have picked up again, as is often the case as summer transitions to fall. My fall schedule begins with the group show "Tease" that opens this weekend (Sept. 6th-10th) at Garson Fine Art, a new gallery in Chelsea, NYC. The show is an introduction to the public of the artists that will be showing at the gallery over the course of the next year. I have a solo show with this gallery that is scheduled for May 2008. Rounding out the fall are two additional shows, one in Houston, my hometown, the other in Miami. October 25th is the opening reception for my as yet unnamed solo show at Koelsch Gallery in Houston. This is a particularly exciting show for me, as I still have family and friends that live close by. The last show of the year is the fair "Flow," a satellite fair to the gargantuan Basil Miami art fair. "Flow" is produced by Julie Baker and Matt Garson (of Garson Fine Art in Chelsea, NY). And last but not least, an image of an early painting of mine, "And That's the Gospel Truth," will appear on the cover of book of poetry by Jim Syfers, a retired philosophy professor and author from San Francisco State University. The book, Hotel Mulberry, is due out in the near future. June, 2007 My opening and show at Nelson Macker have been a great success. Laura and Tiffany, the owners of the gallery, did a great job promoting my work beforehand and were rewarded with their best turnout ever.  The response to the work was tremendously positive. The clientel was both extremely sophicated and warm, and I found myself having intimate conversations with many of them.  Both owners labored endlessly over the lighting, to the extent of even hiring a theatrical lighting designer, and achieved a subdued melancholy that  really lent itself to the nature of my work.  Overall, it was a fantastic experience.  Thanks again to Nelson Macker Fine Art.  ( For those interested in still-available work in the show, please contact Laura or Tiffany, below). On another note, all but two of  22 donkey series paintings have now sold.  Anyone interested in "Knee Bender" or  "Untitled"- Born Again series can contact me or Laura or Tiffany at Nelson Macker Fine Art (www.nelsonmackerfineart.com ). April, 2007 After a mad dash to finish new work for my solo show at Nelson Macker Fine Art in Port Chester, NY, I realized that I forgot to mention it on my website! Well, here it is- anyone who would like to make the half-hour train commute from NYC to Port Chester, NY, almost to the Connecticut border, is welcome to attend the opening of my show "Waiting for Green," this Thursday, May 17th. There are 11 new pieces, most of which are at the top of my "works" page. The pieces range from 9"x9" to 19"x30." For those who would like more information, here is a link to my show. With the help of Marcy Friedman, perhaps Sacramento's most well known collector, The Crocker Museum has agreed to purchase the piece "Crowd Control" for their permanent collection. It's my largest donkey piece to date, and I'm excited that it's going to such a reputable museum. March, 2007 Check out the "Reviews: National" section of the most recent Artnews (March '07). The magazine included an image of my work in reviewing the group show "Homegrown" at Julie Baker Fine Art (November '06). The recent L.A. Art Show (Jan. 24-27) capped a string of successes that began in December with Flow Miami. Though I'm reserving most of my inventory for my upcoming solo show in New York, I was able to send two donkey pieces with Julie Baker to the fair. The work apparently caught the eye of Michael Govan, Director of LACMA (Los Angeles County Museum of Art) and former Director of the Dia Art Foundation in New York, before the fair began. According to Julie, he was both intrigued by the subject matter and the unique use of medium, and returned once the fair commenced with two of L.A.'s most respected collectors and contributors to the arts, Stewart and Lynda Resnick. As a result, the piece "Divine line" is now a part of the Roll International Collection. As far as new show invitations go, I have been asked to show with the Lisa Coscino Gallery of Pacific Grove, CA in two group shows this spring. The first is titled "Tainted Love" and opens February 16th. I've committed a new balloon piece called "Biding time." Koelsch Gallery, in Houston, has also confirmed that my show with them next November will be a solo show. No firm date has been set for that show. December, 2006 I made it through the holidays and get to start of the new year on a positive note. Just before Christmas, I was invited by the Bakersfield Museum of Art to participate in a group show next year titled "Melt my art: Encaustic Expressions." I'm one of seven artists in the show, most of whom seem to emphasize realism in their work. The show will run May 24th- August 28th, 2008. Also, my work was apparently well-received at "Flow" in Miami. Julie Baker reported back that there was "tons of interest" in my work, coming from both galleries and collectors. Perhaps my biggest sale was to renowned collector and museum benefactor Howard Tullman, who purchased "Call to duty" for his collection. Tullman's collection is comprised of more than 1000 pieces, the majority of which are figurative and realist in nature. And to cap things off, The Crocker Museum of Sacramento has confirmed that my work will be included in a group show in the near future, though date has been set. For those in L.A that would like to see some of my new work, check me out at Julie Baker's booth at the L.A Art Show, Jan. 24th-27th. November, 2006 I'm back from a six month hiatus from the frenetic pace of shows and art fairs. The much appreciated break has given me a chance to regroup and emerge with a new body of work. My inventory of available pieces has swelled from only three in May to about twelve as I write this. My solo show with Nelson-Macker Fine Art has been pushed back to May 2007, and several group shows and fairs have filled the void between now and then. Starting next Friday, Nov. 10th., I'll be showing at Julie Baker's in a group show titled "Homegrown." Immediately following "Homegrown" is the art fair Flow in Miami, an event co-founded by Julie Baker that coincides with Art Basel-Miami Beach. As Art Basil-Miami Beach has become the preeminent art fair in this country, I'm keeping my fingers crossed that Flow will result in both good exposure and sales. Next year's schedule begins with the Los Angeles Art Show in January. I have been asked to show next spring at the Gallery at R&F Encaustic Paints in a group show titled "Get Real" that will feature my work and that of other encaustic realist painters, of which there seem to be only a handfull. Depending on my inventory, there's also Art Chicago in May, the same month of my solo show with Nelson-Macker Fine Art. So there it is, six months in a nutshell. I'm hoping to have all new work posted to the site in the next couple of weeks. And last but not least, here's the long overdue link to my article in the NYArts Magazine last spring. January, 2006 Look for new work at Julie Baker's booth at the Los Angeles Art Show in Santa Monica, Jan. 25-29th. December, 2005 The Sacramento Magazine offers to publish an article about Julie Baker Fine Art. The article will focus on collecting artwork and will feature my work. November, 2005 Tiffany Allen of Nelson Macker Fine Art in Port Chester, Connecticut, offers me a solo show scheduled for November 2006. September 9th- October 16th, 2005 My first two person exhibition! "Life in Shadows," a show at Julie Baker Fine Art with fellow realist Dalton Jamieson, features thirteen of my paintings, ten of which are new. This is the inaugural show at Julie's new gallery in Nevada City- a change that will allow her to focus more on the artists that she represents and less on having to continually curate regular shows in a large space. Highlights of the show include "Birdbrain," a figurative piece with a red bird (my first use of color), and "I'm all ears," another figurative piece whose head consists of 56 human ears. Through the veil of humor and sarcasm, eight new donkey-person pieces revisit the ever-present issues of control and complacency that color our cultural and religious institutions and their dogmas. Three pieces from 2004 will help to round out the show. Overall, I feel that this body of work is by far my strongest and most comprehensive to date. And thanks to all who made the AAF Contemporary Art Fair in New York City one of my most successful yet. May 5th, 2005 Koelsch Gallery includes three pieces in the group show Shade. One of the paintings (untitled, library theme) is used as the image for the invitation. All three pieces ("Precipice", "Mixed messages", untitled) sell before the show's end. January, 2005 Art Contemporaries, a publication of the Museum of Contemporary Art at the Luther Burbank center for the arts, publishes a two page article about my work. The exposure from the article leads to numerous inquiries and helps to draw collectors to Julie's booth at SFIAE'05. San Francisco International Art Exposition (SFIAE'05)-- three paintings are purchased by two prominent San Francisco-based collectors. Ellanor Roberts Notides, Senior Vice President at Christie's, buys "Indoctrination," and Carlie Hazeltine acquires "Mr. Answers" and "And that's the gospel truth." Mrs. Hazeltine is the granddaughter of Phyllis Wattis and the Executive Director of the Phyllis Wattis Foundation, an organization that works closely with the SFMOMA and other notable arts institutions in northern California. HOW IT ALL STARTED.... 2003 marked my public debut as an artist. After spending several years developing my style and subject matter, I spent much of last year confronting some lingering technical challenges inherent to encaustic wax- obstacles that I didn't fully resolve until mid-year. When I finally mustered the courage to make the step from my studio to the outside world, both my style and technique were met with a quick and enthusiastic response. Zyzzyva, a San Francisco-based literary publication of national acclaim, was the first to show interest in my work. Howard Junker, Zyzzyva's publisher, chose to use a piece titled "The Library" as the cover image for the Fall 2003 edition. When Howard called Julie Baker with the news, he neglected to tell her specifically where the image would be printed in the journal. We were both pleasantly surprised when we received the actual issue. A week later, roughly mid-july, The Berkeley Art Center called to say that another piece (that I had also absent-mindedly named "The Library") had been one of 49 pieces juried into The Berkeley Art Center's 20th Annual National Juried Exhibition: Works on Paper. The competition was fairly stiff, as almost 700 artists from around the country had entered thousands of pieces. The juror, Marian Parmenter (Director of The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art Artists Gallery), eventually awarded the piece with one of eight juror's awards and chose to hang it as the centerpiece of the exhibit. The exhibit was reviewed by several Bay Area newspapers, among them The Contra-Costa Times. Tracey Bashkoff, an associate curator for the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum of New York, chose three of my pieces from over 1400 entered into Encaustic Works 2003: Fourth International Biennial Exhibition. I then received the Director's Award- one of three coveted awards given before the show came down. The most notable review came of this show came from The Daily Freeman of the Hudson Valley. The aforementioned events were enough to convince Julie Baker of Julie Baker Fine Art to offer me gallery representation. In November, she took a few of my pieces to New York for The Affordable Art Fair, an international fair with over 100 exhibiting galleries. The feedback was very encouraging- I sold my first piece and received serious interest from galleries in New York, London, Nashville, Houston, and Santa Fe for possible inclusion in future shows. As a result of exposure from The Affordable Art Fair, I was asked by Koelsch Gallery of Houston to exhibit in a group show in February, 2004. It will be nice to show in the city where I grew up and had my first art class. Good Things Come in Small Packages, a group show at Julie Baker's, was a relaxing end to a busy year. The easy five mile jaunt to Grass Valley for the show was a welcome commute after the numerous trips to the Bay Area and the cross-country jaunt to New York. The 2004 San Francisco International Art exposition was a resounding success. Julie Baker took nine of my pieces and sold eight. Galleries from accross the country expressed serious interest in showing my work. My inventory had been depleted, however, and it was difficult to follow up on the offers extended to me. I managed to send work to Koelsch gallery of Houston, Tx. in Februay and continued sending a piece or two with Julie Baker to the Scope fairs in New York and L.A. and to Art Chicago. In March I discovered that the paper surface that I paint on had changed manufacturers, thus adversely affecting its quality. I spent three months exhaustively researching other substrates, finally resolving the matter in June. The delays caused by this technical setback forced me to miss out on group shows in Chicago and Sun Valley, Idaho. All was not lost, however. Because my next fair was scheduled for January 2005, I spent the rest of the year becoming more comfortable with my new surface and creating a new body of work.

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