“Studies for a Sculpture”
Pen on paper
Various sizes
2023
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“Placemats”
Ink on paper
11” x 17”
2023
These drawings were created for a dinner party I hosted at my studio to celebrate the coming of spring. Most of the guests took their placemats home but these were left behind. The subjects vary from drawing to drawing but all have something to do with the activities of my spa and studio. They are all done with ball point pen on standard office paper which we used as placemats at the dinner party.
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“Drawings of a recent sculpture”
Ink/paper
Various sizes
2023
I made a couple of weird little sculptures. And then I did a series of drawings of them. They are clunky and uncharacteristic of my other sculptures. But I like them for their innocence.
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“An Artist, His Model and the Painting”
Pen/paper
Various sizes
2023
Here we see an artist at work on his canvas. His model is seated behind the canvas where he can not see her. This makes me wonder if this is a model or an invisible muse whose mere presence is inspiring the artist. In the second drawing he appears to be dismissing her and she appears to be disappearing as she moves away. And with the other hand he appears to be presenting the finished painting with some sense of finality and pride.
The painting within the drawing deserves some comment. It’s clearly a lit candle. But it also appears to be an ejaculating phallus. There even seems to be 2 balls at the bottom. It’s noteworthy that the artist appears to echo the candle in his stance and gesture and the “light” in the finished painting are animated whereas in the piece he is working on in the first drawing they appear to be flaccid. His thumb, however, is quite animated.
This quiet little set of drawings seems to be about the movement of life force from one entity or dimension to another. And, I hope, a little amusing.
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“Artist and Model”
Pen and paper
Various sizes
2022 and 2023
“Charity and Commerce”
Ink on paper
Various sizes
2022
The intersection of sexual desire, commerce and charity has been a subject of art and literature since the beginning of time. This website is not the place to elaborate on this rich dynamic aspect of human history and culture. But I will say that like many people I consider my body a gift. And as such I can not convert gifts into profit without incurring consequences. But my labor is not a gift. It is how I earn money … the means of exchange when it is not a gift. And that is where sex for money gets complicated. Is the provider selling her body or her labor? And does the customer want her body or her services? The answer is probably some continuum that varies with every encounter and even during an encounter.
This fuzzy and dynamic process makes for great gossip and great art … or at least great creative opportunity. Part of what makes this so alluring to artists is a similar unclear relationship between gift and trade with art making and selling. The true art part of art is a gift from who knows where. But the labor of making it is not a gift nor are the materials. And how does one parse these?
Here is a collection of drawings I made in Bangkok. In the process of making these I created a whole vocabulary of characters and symbols to express my observations and experiences. So of it is macabre and some is sweet and tender. Some is obvious and blunt and yet there are secret symbols here too. The medical mask features prominently since the pandemic had not yet ended and also served as a useful tool for women to protect their identity as they entered questionable moral terrain. I also combined my fluid ability to draw the human form with the freedom to just make stuff up.
This kind of drawing was inspired by the kind of story telling with drawing that I first encountered with Picasso’s Vollard Suite. It is a kind of combination of cartooning with 3 dimensional highbrow literature. It is much closer to how my brain works than conventional story telling or comic strips with their linear storylines and mono dimensional graphics. They are definitely more like poetry and for that reason I am going to add poetry to this section of the site. Standby.
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“The Artist”
Pen on paper
16” x 10”
2022
These 2 drawings are typical for me in that I started with an idea in the first drawing and then expanded on it a little in the second. In the first drawing the artist sees something going on in another room. Or is it in his imagination? Or is he looking in a mirror or at a work of art. In the next drawing he is standing in front of a painting that appears to be inspired by what he saw or was thinking about in the previous drawing. And what are those symbols?
“Richard”
Oil/panel
6’ x4’
2022
My figure paintings usually start out as a drawing. But the drawing is very fluid. I don’t wait for the red ground to dry. And I draw with a brush heavily loaded with thin paint. This allows the drawing to blend with the red ground making it easy to vary the sharpness of the line.
Then I use a rag to smear and remove paint to create highlights. I suppose this would be called painting as opposed to drawing. These distinctions are somewhat arbitrary.
It’s very plastic. I can move the figure very easily. And create the feeling very quickly. If I don’t like something it is very easy to change it. I just wipe it off with a rag and slap on more red paint. Then draw over it again. It happens quickly.
“Tinder Profile Shot”
Pencil/paper
18” x 12”
2022
Yes, this is a sketch made from an image on my phone. I am struck by the way people present themselves in online dating sites. At some point I am going to do a series of portraits based on random shots of people on Tinder.
“Tattoo Drawing”
Tattoo ink on skin
6” x4”
2020
This is no ordinary tattoo and no ordinary leg. It is my son’s leg. And the design is a faithful reproduction of a drawing of mine he found in his Mother’s house. The drawing was inspired by his birth shortly after he was born. And his mother kept it on display all these years. Now it’s on Sam’s leg until he passes.
What makes this even more special for me as his Father is that he had the tattoo done without telling me and at a time when our relationship was strained in the usual ways due to the bumpy transition from childhood to adulthood. And the tattoo artist he chose is a very dear friend of mine that he knows I highly respect as an individual and artist.
Eva is a young Chinese woman from China where for most of my life tattoos were strictly forbidden and especially for women. On top of that, Eva is an incredibly talented and authentic artist. I have had the pleasure of having her friendship and her companionship for many years and look forward to making lots of art together for many years. Ironically neither of us have a tattoo.
