Hello and welcome back to the Sunday Sweep! In today's post I'm going to share the monthly payment plan option in my shop, requesting commissions, my feature on Sticker Giant's blog, and a group exhibition I'm apart of with an in-depth look at a few listings currently available in the shop! There's a lot to cover so let's just dive right in!
Monthly Payment Plans
Did you know I offered 3 month payment plans for original art in my online shop? I've found this is a great way to offer large scale pieces for collectors who would prefer to invest in the work in smaller increments. Whether you prefer to pay for an artwork in full or across 3 months, the cost will be the same. When choosing a payment plan its listed as a "subscription" and you pay the first month's installment right away and then your account is billed on the same day the following two months. Once the final payment is received, the artwork is packaged and prepared for shipping. Currently there are only a handful of listings that show payment plans as a purchase option, but if a different work catches your eye you can always request a payment plan option prior to checkout. Just send me a quick email to do so! If you have any other questions regarding payment plans let me know.
Requesting Commissions
Requesting a custom commissioned artwork from me has never been easier! In fact, just a few days ago I finalized a page on my site which covers all of the info to inquire your first, or next, commission from my studio! Click here to visit the commissions page. I offer both drawings and paintings as commissioned formats you can choose from. The sizes and rates are listed by varying factors. In the past I've been contacted directly from clients who commissioned artworks for gifts, anniversaries, album artwork, house portraits, and family portraits. I enjoy the sense of trust collectors give me when commissioning a work of art. Whether the client is looking for my interpretation of a particular story or image, or they want a piece that stems from my imagination, I'm happy to add my voice to almost any opportunity! If you're considering a commission for a holiday gift, then act fast! The earlier the request is submitted the better your chances are that it will be approved and I can begin working asap. For requests that are submitted on short notice a rush fee is added to the quote so to ensure you're prepared contact me weeks if not months in advance.
Sticker Giant Blog Feature!
Click the link below to read an awesome write up about my newest sticker Snake Noises on the Sticker Giant blog. Shortly after I received my sticker pack I was emailed with a link to this article written by Andrew Matranga. Snake Noises is the second sticker release I've done with Sticker Giant so far and both sets have been incredible! I'm super happy to work with this company based in Longmont, CO. Did you know the Snake Noises sticker is available for only $3.00 in my shop? If you want both of my stickers you can save $0.50 by purchasing them as a bundle for $5! Click here to add the sticker bundle to your cart!
Let me know what you think about the Sticker Giant article!
Group Show In Leslie, Michigan
(use the arrows to view the full installation of our group exhibition)
A few weeks ago, Benjamin Duke invited Isiah Lattimore, Jesse Kasper, and myself to participate in a group exhibition in downtown Leslie, Michigan. The show has been open on Sundays with limited hours due to Covid restrictions, but we've heard great feedback from visitors! Since the exhibition is now closed I've added a walk through video below for you to experience our art. The exhibition brings together three of us painters and Kasper's exquisite pottery! Benjamin Duke is a professor I worked with at Michigan State University during my candidacy. In fact, two summers ago we collaborated on a large mural in downtown East Lansing called Life Is A Groovy Opportunity. Currently Ben, Isiah, and I have designs towards new mural calls in the central Michigan area. Our Leslie exhibition is held in a restored building with newly sealed wood floors which makes for a gorgeous one room gallery. The space was offered as an exhibition space to Ben by Bob Howe the owner of the building and expanding patron of the arts to the Leslie area.
Benjamin Duke's Website: https://www.bendukeart.com/
Isiah Lattimore's Website: https://www.lattimoreart.com/
Jesse Kasper's Website: https://www.instagram.com/cyborgpotter/
In the exhibition I brought a handful of different paintings made from my MFA explorations including:
Sweet Beets and the Sugar Chief
Heavy Shit
Teenage Merit
The Teenager
Turkey Boy
Chicken Boy
Front and Center
These works span various painting styles and subject matter, but like all of my work are connected by the influence of my personal experiences in life. Visible in these paintings are self portraits painted to varying degrees of likeness. Teenage Merit takes the form of a self portrait in bold and expressive marks with excessive red hues. At the time there was a strong influence in the work of Francis Bacon. I was very intrigued by Bacon's figurative amalgamations, and the Bay Area figurative artists Richard Diebenkorn, David Park, Manuel Neri, and Nathan Oliveira.
Chicken Boy and Turkey Boy follow similar styles of expression with loose brushwork. In both I was returning to my childhood experiences of living on a hobby farm with these and other common animals. I created all three of these paintings during my first year of graduate school when humor and imaginative drawing were at the forefront of my painting process. I became intrigued by the idea that my body could be reshaped into bizarre renditions and color palettes. This was one of the first times in recent years that I was testing out character designs for narratives in painting.
Heavy Shit was a painting which explored comedy in a more explicit sense. Here I wanted to push a narrative that was immediately described, but still mysterious in how parts of the space related to one another and the central figure. Growing up in Kenosha, my family's farm home was a space which changed constantly.
For many years I was committed to skateboarding and would build hap hazard ramps and obstacles on our asphalt driveway. Usually these jumps were made with planks of found wood, boxes, buckets, and pvc pipes. My uncle built a very sturdy box for me at the time which I painted white and glued skateboard logos to. Making this painting allowed me time to recall this small details of objects, space, and arrangements. The space of skateboarding is an interesting one because it often combines "public and found obstacles" with constructed ones. I liked the changing nature of this idea for a visual framework in painting.
The last painting I'll write about here from this show is Sweet Beets and the Sugar Chief. I made this painting on top of an old painting from my first semester of graduate school. I'm much happier with the sweet beets painting than what was there prior. The canvas was unstretched and brought home last summer because the art building on campus was getting asbestos abatement at the time. The canvas quickly acquired subjects from sketchbook drawings, personal photos, and found imagery from online. The theme for the painting fluctuated around patriotism vs xenophobia, history of field labor, and how the human body relates to cultural definition. It's difficult to distill my painting approach simply, especially when the work changes dramatically at times. The sweet beets painting is one that formed through ongoing combinations of found images. There was no prepatory drawing or concept, instead the painting built through additive choices that would make the space more complex and nonlinear. Before I began this painting I was introduced to an article regarding the history of the sugar beet industry in Michigan and its roots of relied migrant labor. I share more of that history in the listing for the painting which you can read here.
A comparison I've heard from viewers about the sweet beets painting was to the Garden of Earthly Delights by Heironymous Bosch.
Do you see a correlation between the two paintings? Clearly there's more breathing room in mine and the scale of figures remains consistent in the Earthly Delights painting. Bosch is one of my favorite painters whose images haunt and inspire me. One of the lessons I've learned from his work is the value of intricacy and maximizing the description of space. If you're unfamiliar with his paintings I highly suggest looking at close details of his panels online. You'll quickly see how effectively he depicted the range of human behavior, emotion, and absurdity.
This wraps up today's Sunday Sweep! I hope you enjoyed it, for those who noticed the giveaway from last week, I reached out to the person who left the anonymous comment to begin their digital prize. I'm going to hold off on giveaways on here until I have a bit more posts on the blog and more engagement in the comments. I appreciate those who are reading along and I'm looking forward to sharing new studio things with you again on Wednesday!
Take care, stay safe, and vote!