Solo Show: "Still Life with Cataclysm"

A couple years ago now, I chanced to start working with a new medium and new substrate.

My first solo show, "Still Life with Cataclysm" (named for the painting shown above), is a sampling of images that have emerged, usually without any intention on my part, over the course of that time.

Many of my early pieces were not much to look at as a whole, but I noticed there were sometimes tiny worlds in the matrix of the paintings that I only became aware of after the paint had dried.

They were so small that I decided to have them scanned and enlarged in an artprint (giclee).

What I saw when the prints were made astonished me.

Tiny specks were revealed to be beings, with clothing and faces and hair. It seemed impossible that they just 'happened' in the swiping of whatever tool I had in my hand that day, yet there they were.

As the artwork was enlarged, whirls and edges and textures became apparent that I had not seen previously. What was happening at the macro level was quite intriguing--and not something I could recreate in a size that might be more easily appreciated, so the enlarged giclees became an integral part of my artistic voice, not just a way to make somewhat inexpensive copies.

It was as if images from a separate dimension were finding their way into my paintings.

Being slipped in when I was otherwise occupied with the larger painting.

Some very spiritual friends looked at one of the paintings, "Past Lives," and decided that I was--

"whether I knew it or not"--channeling something, or someone.

"Past Lives"

I suppose it is possible.

On a good day, if you are able to really get yourself out of the way, it does seem that the universe moves through you, making Art that you would not come up with otherwise.

Some of the images are somewhat disorienting, in that the world they portray is utterly different from the one we inhabit.

There is no sky, or earth, no horizon line, often no recognizable forms, and the spirits that dwell there seem almost,

but not quite,

recognizable.

"Floating World"

There will also be original (and larger) paintings on display, also on Yupo and done with Open Acrylics.

Perhaps it's not artwork that most people might hang over their couch (although it would be cool if they did), but it is an undeniable visual feast. The imagery reveals itself on deeper and deeper levels the more you spend time with it.

"Matrix Variations"

I invite you to see these otherworldly works for yourself at my opening on Saturday, July 9 from 4 to 7 p.m. at The Denver Architecture Collaborative/Pin-up Gallery, located at 863 Santa Fe Drive in Denver's Santa Fe Arts District.

There will be live jazz by The Mad Hatters--a trio of guitar, bass and coronet, as well as wine and refreshments.

See you there?