artist of the week :: david kinsey

i have had respect and admiration for david kinsey for quite a while now, and although i like some of his earlier work quite a lot, my respect for him constantly grows due to the fact that he continues to push himself and his style past what is comfortable, easy, and obvious for him. his works have become much more chaotic and layered over time. this is easily evident in the works below - part of his new show at the joshua liner gallery in nyc. head over to beautiful decay for more images and a write-up about the show, or to KinseyVisual to find a great overview of his career's work.

cool bold stuff.

artist of the week (pt. 2) :: david shillinglaw

its been too long since i have had time to give you an artist of the week - so here's two for this week.

david shillinglaw came to my attention due to his involvement in a new show in london entitled "urban masters 2012" at the opera gallery. it brought together most of the top 'urban' artists in the world and featured work that honored many of the greatest artists in the history of the world. he spoke at the end of a video about the show and the painting of his that was shown piqued my interest.

he creates mostly mural works using spray paint and collage, utilizing bright colors and picasso-esque cubist human creations, bold patterns and positive, meaningful text. he has been invited to paint all around the world.
his website has a ton of images of him painting and shows the process that goes into each piece that is featured. i recommend taking a few minutes and explore it, if you like what you see below.

artist of the week (pt. 1) :: samuel rodriguez

samuel rodriguez has been on my radar for a few years now, thanks to booooooom.com, but his latest round of paintings got me really excited and i wanted to share.
there is a wonderful interaction of pattern and human form in the pieces - both in the drawing and paintings. the bold, confident pattern work weaves into, out of, and around the faces of his models, creating a super contemporary new vocabulary of what it means to be a portrait painter and designer. keep up with his work on his blog.

sari's first semester visit... and a great day in the art room!

we are always so blessed to have local portrait artist sari gaby come to give our students workshops - in fact she works with our drawing 1, painting 2, and AP students in various capacities.

today, she did her portraiture demo for drawing 1 and was artist-in-residence with AP, giving them critiques on their current 'conversation with a contemporary artist' project.

check out the pictures below. you should consider bringing her to your school... or taking lessons from her! you can call her at 585.935.1186.

drawing 1 students paying close attention.

the artist at work.

one of my favorite places.

3 hours of work and teaching.

lindsay's critique on her the gryllus-inspired painting.

hannah working on her self portrait.

herakut finishes their mural in rochester.

so, the weeklong adventure has come to an end. today our family went over to check out herakut's finished product, and it was just as stunning as expected. it didn't hurt that it was gorgeous fall day. full of sun and a not-so-biting wind.

the finished mural.

hand detail.

head detail.

a powerful statement. more powerful in context of the whole storybook.

he just wants to touch the paint everywhere.

so amazed by the feet.

honored to have this signature in our city.

herakut in rochester, day 4.

it looks like thursday will be their last day on this piece, and their last in rochester. unfortunately, the second mural has been cancelled due to how long this one has taken. but this is in a more widely-travelled location, so i guess its the better spot to have one.

little man and a big foot. amazing!

end of day 4.

day 4 detail.

being his observant self.

herakut in rochester, day 3.

how lucky that he has gotten to watch this all happen before his eyes.

face, pre-eye rendering.

had a great conversation with akut. josh was so excited.

herakut in rochester, day 2.

today was the first full day of herakut's mural painting in rochester. josh and i went down to watch them in action. it was very interesting and so inspiring. hera and akut were in separate cherry pickers and had free range of motion all over the face of the building, and they operated the machinery (which josh loved just as much as the paintings) like they were extensions of themselves. its hard to describe until you see them in motion... but watching hera with her long-stemmed paint roller applying washes of paint and akut doing highly detailed spray painting on such a large scale, from about 20 feet from the wall was really great... and in typical rochester style, only about 5 people were there at any given time.

check out some pics from our visit - more to come tomorrow.

josh sizing up the mural from afar

hera brushing on the expressive base coat

akut working on the hand detail

2 dudes enjoying art and heavy machinery

progress as of 5pm

herakut "the giant storybook project" comes to rochester!

herakut is one of my favorite contemporary artists. well, its actually two artists: hera is a classically trained painter, and akut is self-taught. together they create some of the most intriguing and compelling mural/'street' art in the world. i stumbled upon them back in 2009 in juxtapoz magazine and immediately went online to find out more.

i first posted about them that day, after finding some great youtube videos. i admired the style in which they worked - the imagery, the materials, the spaces they used and HOW they used them. i missed painting and working in collaboration with my mentor, bill stephens, and this just made me love herakut even more (incidently, you can see bill's and my doodles here, although they are far less interesting and compelling than the work of hera and akut).

they have put out a few books that are worth checking out. i have 'after the laughter' and its a wild ride through their installation and mural work... layed out like a scrapbook or artists' sketchbook.

anyway, the point of this whole post is that herakut has a new project that they are working on with jim carrey (yes, that jim carrey) called "the giant storybook project". they are travelling all over the world painting large scale murals that will be used to create a children's book. the idea is fantastic and so creative, and the work thus far is just what you would expect from these artists.

the best part of this project is that its coming to ROCHESTER! im not sure exactly how we swung this one, but in my mind its a pretty big 'get'. we are the 5th stop, following lexington (kentucky - 2 murals), eresing (outside of munich, germany), montreal, and toronto. (you can click on the city name to see a photo gallery of each mural).

the murals in rochester will be painted at 208 andrews street (between clinton and st. paul), and 480 west main street (just west of 490). the second piece will be a smaller scale and started once the first is completed.

and on top of all of this, hera and akut will be giving an artist talk at RIT on wednesday from 6-8. more details here.

you should stop by and check out their work - they encourage kids and pets. i'll be bringing josh and hopefully some of my students.

check out the video and pictures to see what the whole project is all about. or find our more on the project's facebook page.

Herakut from Bullhorn on Vimeo.

lexington 1 - the beginning

lexington 1 - finished product

lexington 1 - elementary class visit

lexington 2 - finished product

lexington 2 - in progress detail

eresing (st. ottilien archabbey) - finished product

montreal

montreal - detail

toronto - finished product

rochester - getting started!

AP art friday afternoon.

a room full of wonderful working artists. 

love this room, love this crew.

(click to zoom)

artist(s) of the week :: the gryllus

the gryllus an artist duo, similar to (in idea, not in style) herakut. it represents the collaborative paintings of cara thayer and louie van patten. this duo pushes the envelope with dynamic, in-your-face close up composition of faces and other body parts. they are interested in exploring surface and expression - bringing the viewer right into contact with the subject.
also, check out the direct application of paint (also known as a la prima), full of marks and strokes.
you can find out more info on their blog or at bluecanvas.

5 records you may want to check out.

its official. its no longer summer. new seasons call for new music populating the speakers. are you looking for something fresh and new to break the monotony of all that taylor swift, one direction, and maroon 5 clogging up the air waves? heres a few of my recent favorites that you may want to give a listen to...

1. mumford and sons "babel"
this album just screams october to me. it takes the traditional americana-style instrumentation and song structure to new heights - recalling the grandeur of U2 and coldplay. its definitely the most powerful banjo-starring album you will have heard in a long time (or ever). special props go out to the 'deluxe edition', featuring a cover of simon & garfunkel's fantastic "the boxer", along with the album closer that somehow didnt make the album, "where are you now".

standout tracks (beside those two) are "i will wait", "holland road", and "ghosts that we knew".

2. john mayer "born and raised"
if you know any of mayer's previous music, this album wont come as too much of a surprise. luckily though, he kicks back a bit here, bringing out some of that california/country feel that just sets a great vibe throughout. its a solid listen from front to back... a true album in the age of $.99 single song downloads.

but... if you have to pick just a few, i'd suggest "queen of california", "walt grace's submarine test, january 1967", and "love is a verb".

3. the black keys "el camino"
hey - i like the black keys! i bet you didn't know that. as a matter of fact, im wearing a black keys shirt as i type this. this album has been out all year, and many people have come to know and love the keys from the album's standout singles "lonely boy" (have you seen that video!?!) and "gold on the ceiling". this album will rock your face off. it, along with their previous album "brothers" are perennial favorites in the stahl house (as well as my art room). if you haven't heard them yet, do yourself a favor and head over to itunes right about... now.

4. the avett brothers "the carpenter"
these guys played with bob dylan at the grammys (along with the aforementioned mumford and sons) a few years back. it garnered them a lot of much-deserved attention. their new record is another modern take on traditional american song writing and instrumentation. a variety of stringed instruments (including banjo, mandolin and acoustic guitar) take center stage, along with piano and the interweaving harmonies of the brothers scott and seth. its great crunchy fall music to go with your pumpkin spice latte (and yeah, starbucks probably sells it at their register)... and somehow it manages to rock pretty hard.

standout tracks are "february seven", "the once and future carpenter", and "live and die".

5. sea wolf "old world romance"

sea wolf finds itself in a realm somewhere between the cure and matt pond pa (if you've never heard those bands... what are you waiting for?!?)... or for a more recently comparison, they sound like the shins more mellow cousins. its the perfect music for a grey rainy day. good music to get lost in and make some art to.

top 3 tracks are "old friend", "priscilla", and "changing seasons".

art department shirts... what do you think?

click for more details

artist of the week :: sean cheetham

heres another new master of contemporary realist portraiture.

its always interesting to me to see contemporary artists working in traditional styles but with subject matter that is current.

see more of his work here

and check out this video of sean painting a portrait:

hanging still lives!

i thought that it would be fun and challenging to literally flip the idea of a still live upside down this september.
the AP class will be doing multiple drawings in a variety of mediums from these set-ups.

mr. rogers 'garden of your mind' remixed

i'm sure that many of you share my fond memories of watching mr. rogers as a kid. learning about the world and all of its possibilities... and the importance of creativity and make-believe.
what a magical man.
check out this new video from the PBS digital studios. supposedly there are more to come.

Beatles mix

i call it a mixtape. they call it a playlist.
whatever you call it - this mix rules.

...as requested by drawing 2...

1. come together
2. across the universe ('let it be... naked' version)
3. dear prudence
4. here comes the sun
5. we can work it out
6. penny lane
7. while my guitar gently weeps
8. i'm only sleeping
9. the ballad of john and yoko
10. in my life
11. within you without you
12. norwegian wood
13. get back
14. don't let me down
15. the fool on the hill
16. blackbird
17. happiness is a warm gun
18. help!
19. a day in the life
20. eleanor rigby
21. strawberry fields forever
22. for no one
23. nowhere man
24. yesterday
25. let it be ('let it be... naked' version)

artist of the week :: christine wu

theres been a lot of double exposure type paintings popping up lately in contemporary art... one of my favorite painters exploring this recently is christine wu. check out her work and find out more about here on her blog.
i think i am drawn to her work because of the surface treatment - and the fact that the works are not totally photo realistically rendered... they're perfectly drippy and surreal.

re-reading 'the four agreements'

im re-reading a book that was a gift from my mentor bill stephens, and was a favorite of my mother-in-law amy.
its called 'the four agreements', by don miguel ruiz.
i highly recommend it. it will change your life.

and they were friday wisdoms once!

RIT artist/teacher art show

join us from 6-9pm on thursday, may 24 at gallery r for the opening reception for the first ever RIT MST program artist/teacher show, taking place alongside the MST program capstone student teaching show.

i will have 3 pieces in the show, alongside other local artist/teachers including bill stephens, luvon sheppard, amy bonner, andy reddout, and others.