J Mascis at The Way Out Club (in progress)

Many times when I start a new painting I'm always tempted to stop 

after about one or two sessions. A painting at that stage looks so 

new and fresh, it could be anything to anybody.

Maybe one day when I'm old and tired, I'll just "finish" it when I 

start it and that will be that. What nerve, what arrogance to believe

 just a few hours of work is justified in calling a painting "finished". 

I do like how this looks but will be spending weeks if not months

fleshing it out. I'll be done with this when I'm sick of looking at it.

Last Sunday started like any other Sunday, woke up early to paint. 

I have been alternating between pieces on the bands Milton Mapes

and Wussy. As I get more settled in my creative ways, I prefer early

morning (6am-10am) and late afternoon/evening (4pm-8pm) for peak 

painting times. Of course, Life always ensures that you're unable to 

be available during those times but on Sunday morning, it's a safe 

bet I'm up early painting. 

About mid-morning I received a invitation to a free ticket for the 

Dinosaur Jr. show happening that night at Delmar Hall. The show was 

sold out and when it was first announcing I had no idea if I'd be able 

to attend so I never bought a ticket, another sad reality of my adult life. 

But the stars had aligned and I was indeed able to attend. 

This was especially nice because I was extremely disappointed in 

missing what would be an historic show the following Tuesday night 

when members of Dinosaur Jr. would be playing in a Stooges cover 

band at The Way Out Club on Jefferson along with legendary punk 

band Negative Approach, Lou Barlow solo and St. Louis band, 

Trauma Harness. Seeing the band live at Delmar Hall would be 

just as good and a dream come true. 

It's impossible to overstate the influence Dinosaur Jr. had over me 

when I was a teenager. First hearing of them in 8th grade when I lived 

in a small town in Maryland, the skaters there were a bit more hip than 

the skaters in the small Missouri town I was originally from. The band 

didn't really invade the skater popular consciousness until 1989 when

their song "Freak Scene" was featured in the skate video 

"Speed Freaks" during what could arguably be called the 

most anticipated skate video part of 1989, Mike Vallely's at the end. 

Mike was one of the most popular pro skaters at the time and he 

had just left the huge, corporate company Powell Peralta for the 

smaller, independent company, World Industries and this was his 

first video part since. When watching it today, it's easy to see how 

absolutely defining it was then and even now. Once that 

video came out, thousands of skaters like myself were 

forever changed and Dinosaur Jr. will always be linked with that.

Because of that I immediately acquired the CD "Bug" and two 

short years later "Green Mind" was released, which was 

literally the soundtrack to my senior year in high school. 

None of this really occurred to me until I was sitting there watching 

them play all of these songs live and all these memories came 

flooding back. 

Which of course made me even more disappointed about missing their 

Tuesday show at The Way Out. To capture an original photograph of 

J Mascis at a small St. Louis club to paint from is what it's all about. 

Thankfully, Jaime Lees was there, covering the show for the RFT and 

she shared with me an unpublished photograph she took herself. 

now playing - The Wagon

Yellow

For the last few years this blog was updated at least once a month. Those days are long gone now. Life is just too busy for such blatant indulgence and it's no loss. There was a time it kind of served a reflective purpose but like most things, it eventually turned into a bad marketing attempt that simply informed readers of insignificant achievements and listings of when artwork would be on display. So, it fell to the wayside, but I find myself with a moment and wanted to actually expressed some real emotions rather than pitch some event. 

Lately the color yellow has been overwhelmingly prevalent in daily thoughts and even subconscious thoughts. It's all because of this building I drive by on a regular basis. It's some bordered up building that was a probably a gas station or something else in it's previous life. The main walls of the structure are painted yellow and when I see it, the color yellow invades my mind and doesn't leave for days. Nightly dreams in yellow hues have even followed, day and night I'm consumed by the color. While working on other paintings my thoughts drift to yellow and I soon lose track of what I'm doing. At first I try to ignore it, thinking it will go away and leave me be. But it doesn't. I don't even consider taking a photograph cause there's no way I'd even have time to start another painting. Life does not care about Art. Life always moves forward, never pausing so you can have the time to get the yellow out of your mind.  And if you take a pause from Life at the wrong time, Life will get its revenge and move on without you. So, you bide your time and wait for an opening, a small sliver of time when the walls aren't closing in and you can get a clear thought out. 

Today I finally had to gave in and start on the piece. A rough sketch in spray paint that's ultimately all wrong but will work as a beginning. The amazing thing about using spray paint is the large amount of color that can quickly be added to the canvas and used as a guide for what will eventually be the final image. It's clearly to clunky and large to be accurate, but the color serves as the perfect roadmap to get you where you're going and you'll still be able to see it's contribution even after you paint over it with acrylic cause it affects everything from color to composition. Lines become shadows while shapes evolve into blocks of solid color that are unique onto themselves. 

Ultimately what ends up happening is more time spent painting which after a few days of adjustment, works into a complementary accompaniment to Life. When that hits it's stride, smooth sailing is ahead, for at least awhile, anyway. 

End of Year Review

This year was already in full swing before it began. I had started 

a number of Uncle Tupelo paintings for a show that was happening

in April and they were completed in quick succession from 

Feb-Mar. But prior to that, the first official painting I finished for the

year 2015 was that of a hot dog. I had an idea of painting menu

items for a restaurant on small canvases that were bright and 

colorful, easy to see and hang. I approached the restaurant with 

my sample but they were not interested. After all the Uncle Tupelo 

paintings (some of which are hanging at the Music Record Shop) 

were completed I did a series of buildings for another show that 

was set for the summer at the East Central College Gallery. 8 mid-size 

canvases which are now hanging in Iowa at Karl Haglund’s 

photography studio. Next up was the large canvas of Jay Farrar 

for the Old Rock House. That painting had been started the year 

before but I didn’t finish it until July. Also in July was a great 

event at the City Museum featuring the band CaveofswordS 

and I snapped a few photos for a future painting. That piece 

was completed soon after. Then I started but never 

completed a painting of Adam Hesed playing Anne Tkach’s 

bass at her tribute show, that piece is currently hanging at 

the Tick Tock Tavern. Finally, another large painting was just 

completed of the new KDHX building and along with that one 

goes the Wilco A.M. cover painting which is the official last 

painting completed for the year 2015. Twenty-two 

paintings all together.

Iowa Bound

Back in April I painted 8 mid-size canvases of buildings and places

located in the city of St. Louis. The paintings were specifically

created for a show from Jun – Aug at East Central College

Gallery in Union, MO. After that show I wrapped them up

and promptly stored them on a canvas rack in my studio.

About a month or so later my friend from Iowa, Karl Haglund,

emailed asking about the paintings. Karl is a painter, well

known for his guitar paintings but he’s also a photographer

and has recently opened a new photography studio in his

home town of Charles City, IA. The studio will not only house

his printing/painting empire but also serve as a place for him

to focus on photography and as it so happens, it’s a great

place for art openings and that’s exactly what he’ll be having

on Friday Nov 6, featuring, yes, you guessed it, 8 mid-size

canvases of buildings and places located in the city of St. Louis,

painted by, me. The show is to help celebrate the grand opening

of his photography studio and I'm delighted to be a part of it.

In addition to the paintings there will also be a special musical guest

star, the phenomenal Chris Grabau (Magnolia Summer, Cave States)

will be on hand to perform live at the opening.

now playing - Cave States

August

I guess these are considered the dog days of summer, whatever the

season, I’m glad to be painting. The focus for now is on this piece

which is the new location of the radio station KDHX, known as the

Larry J. Weir Center for Independent Media located in Grand Center.

It’s a beautiful building that’s been rehabbed into a state of the art

media center and features a café plus music venue on the ground

floor. Needless to say KDHX plays a vital role in the city of St. Louis

for a variety of reasons and it’s a joy to be commissioned to paint this 

piece for a private individual. Yet this is just one of the many projects 

that I’m currently involved in and it’s great to be knee deep in work. 

There are two events coming up in August that I’d like to mention, 

both in the same week. First there will be a tiny show at the 

Tick Tock Tavern on Wed Aug 19 starting at 7pm. The Tick Tock will 

be celebrating all week their 1 year anniversary and have graciously 

invited me to share in that celebration by allowing me to show work 

on the wall that connects them with the tasty Steve’s Hot Dogs. Since 

the Tick Tock has been opened they have lined that wall with some 

simple illustrations I did of notable historic figures such as Albert 

Einstein, Eleanor Roosevelt and General Douglas MacArthur. 

For the show, I’ll be painting one new piece that will be posted 

as the event gets closer. Also for this show I’ll have 

posters of paintings available for sale. Then on 

Friday Aug 21 will be the reception for the show “To Be 

Determined” at the East Central College Gallery located 

in Union, MO. This show features 8 new large pieces of 

buildings and places in the city of St. Louis, plus smaller 

older pieces. The reception will be from 5pm-7pm and I hope 

you can make it out to see this group of paintings. For now, back

to work.

 Now playing – The Jans Project

Good Busy

The first half of 2015 has been very busy. Two solo shows that took 

up most of the first 6 months preparing for and now the second half

of 2015 looks to be just as busy with commissions. On the verge of

completing a new piece for the Old Rock House, will then jump right

into a large canvas of the new KDHX building, in addition to the

piece pictured above, which will eventually be Off Broadway. 

At the end of this week the band CaveofswordS will be playing

at the City Museum and I’ll be there photographing for a future 

painting.

This is just the first grouping of work that will be keeping me busy,

there’s more on the way. This is great, I love staying busy, especially 

with painting but there is one little problem. The problem of Time. 

Sometimes there just isn’t enough Time to go around. Thankfully, 

those who I’m working with are very understanding and 

accommodating when it comes to time. Many of the pieces I’m 

working on are large and I can be amazingly stubborn if something

 doesn’t look the way I want it to look. I’ll spend countless hours, 

sometimes turning into days or even weeks of working and then 

re-working one small aspect of a painting. To do that requires 

Time and as we all know, Time is running out.

now playing - The Chamber Brothers

Jay Farrar at the Old Rock House

Last Fall Jay Farrar played an acoustic show at the Old Rock House 

and I was there, right up front and snapped some nice photos to 

work from for a painting that will eventually go in the Old Rock House. 

I had to put the piece on hold for a number of months for a number of 

reasons but now I’m back at it and hope to complete it soon. The 

packed show was mostly a low key affair, with his brother opening 

while both performers shared current Son Volt guitar slinger, 

Gary Hunt, also known as a great multi-instrumentalist. We were

treated to a mix bag of Farrar/Son Volt tunes and even 

an Uncle Tupelo song or two.

Farrar has lost nothing on his voice, if anything it has aged to 

perfection and the stripped down sound really highlighted how

incredible it is. His songs are as solid as they come, cornerstones

of a foundation that started right here in this area, surrounding the

Mississippi River. While one may miss his ferocious electric guitar

playing, he’s still a force to be reckoned with and this community

should be damn proud to have produced such an important artist.

In my excitement of the prospect of painting someone of Farrar’s 

stature, I selected a rather big canvas, 40x60 inches. This will be

the largest canvas to date that I’ve done for the Old Rock House.

The size is another reason it’s taken so long to complete. I probably

didn’t need to go that big, but what the hell.

After looking at this piece from a distance and photographing it, I 

don't like it at all. Gonna start over on him, make him a bit smaller.

longer and trim it up a bit.

now playing - Jay Farrar