Creative Overview — ART

An escape from reality…

My favorite type of art to create is mixed media assemblage.

I love creating art with collected and found objects. When I create art, the process becomes an escape from reality — and sometimes a bizarre journey through my subconscious.

Each piece typically tells a story, however, the real magic (for me) is hearing the stories others come up with when they see my work.

At times I enjoy playing with a theme of related objects, but other times, it’s interesting to pair up completely unrelated objects…forcing them to interact to tell a story or convey an idea. The results are unique and reminiscent of my two favorite artists — Joseph Cornell and Edward Kienholz.

Below are some photos of my work…

In the Cards

Mixed Media

In the Cards (detail)

In the Cards (top view)

Photo taken at my show titled “11 | 11" — at The New BLK

Didn’t Need It Anyway (detail)

No Escape From Memory

Mixed Media Installation

No Escape From Memory (detail photos)

Houdini face closed

Houdini face opened

Houdini face opened to reveal what is inside…a quote from Harry Houdini himself. “My brain is the key that sets me free.”

Several lacquer thinner transfers appear on different surfaces such as wood, canvas, paper, painted surfaces, pages of an old bible, and even broken pieces of mirror.

Framed photos of of the master magician and escape artist precariously hang from the piece.

Painted glass mounted a few inches from the surface to create the illusion of Houdini hanging high above his audience.

Houdini was known as the “Kind of Handcuffs” — this book, found in an antique shop, seemed like the perfect fit.

Stage layouts, show provisos as well as conditions and terms can be found throughout the piece.

Lacquer thinner transfer image of Houdini and his family on the page of an old bible.

No Escape From Memory is my largest piece to date. It still needs a final resting place. It is my hope that I can sell or donate it to the right person or place at the right time.

Driving: The Perfect Metaphor for Life

This piece features content from a blog post written a few years ago.

Love, Ideas, and the White Pebble

A mixed media piece and my first experiment with acrylic resin. I also used dull knife blades, pebbles collected from a beach in Mendocino, California, a beautiful and rusted metal drawer, and a replica of Venus purchased in France. This piece became a gift to a close friend after the show.

Love, Ideas, and the White Pebble (detail)

Kwik Fixx

Kwik Fixx — Mixed Media

This pieces is a commentary about how almost everyone has an addiction, obsession, crutch, weakness or vice…and how most habits can be traced back to a “pusher” — who could be both good or bad (depending on the vice). Sometimes we all need a quick fix. Viewers are invited to think about their own vices, why they have them, and how they fix them.

Kwik Fixx (detail)

Kwik Fixx (detail) — The Pez Clown is the “stand in” for the “pusher”.

Pez candies are the “stand in” vice for this piece.

Untitled

Untitled | Aluminum Sculpture (sold at the “11 | 11" show).

Homage to Grandpa Hank

This is a mixed media piece that honors the time spent as a child at the barber shop with my Grandfather.

Homage to Grandpa Hank (detail)

Pagota + Happy Accident

This is what I would call more of a “functional” assemblage. It serves as a great night light in my kitchen.

Deceived

A mixed media assemblage loosely based on the story of Adam & Eve

The One | Mixed Media

An old drawer was transformed into an old time “stage” over where the headless angel hovers.

Two broken, “fallen” angels stand at the base of the piece barely held together with some heavy, white string.

Detail of one of the angels at the base

Detail from Failure, Success, Hostages, Demons, and Hope | Mixed Media

Conclusion…

This concludes a brief tour of some of my art work.

I’ll close with a quick story…

The strangest question (and compliment) I have ever received was asked at my art show. A stranger who was viewing my work came up to me and asked if I was the artist. I told him yes. He muttered a bit of a disclaimer, paused for a moment as if he wasn’t sure if he should ask, and then he said,

“Is all of this ‘sober’ work — or were you on something when you created this?”

My response was,

“All of this was created without the influence of any substance. I can’t create if my mind is not clear.”

Several elements are at play and my pieces can be everything from whimsical to dark. My goal is to always tell a story, or at least create something that allows others to make up their own.