Moose Art

The Ebb and Flow

2011-07-19T20:02:00.001-07:00

Want me to give you some excuses why I haven't finished a new painting in an embarrassingly long period of time? I won't. Though there's a nice mix of really lame and totally legit ones.

What I will say is that the past 2 years have given me the gift of many future paintings. (Read: emotional trauma, humility, heartbreak, grace, frustration, joy, and contentment. All wrapped up in a nice little life-sized package.)

I've also been working on this little side project, painting some murals, having some paintings featured on the set of a stage production, illustrating a children's book, and publishing some photos. (Of some pretty amazing folks, actually.)

So all is not lost. I'm not completely void of creative endeavors. (Did you see what I did there? Those were also very sneaky excuses why I haven't finished a painting... pretend like you didn't notice...)

Anyway. I've got 4 newbies in the works that I'll be able to share with you very soon.

So stay tuned!

"Behind Our Scenes" Opening!

2009-12-15T17:17:00.000-08:00

Nicole Rosato and I made our curatorial debut this past weekend with the opening of "Behind Our Scenes", an exhibition featuring 34 Pittsburgh artists who also work in the city's museums and galleries.

Here are some pictures from the opening. Thanks to everyone who attended!

The show will run until February 13, 2010 at SPACE.

(812 Liberty Ave, Pittsburgh, PA 15222)

...Click here to check out the gallery's website...

South Park Theater Exhibition

2009-06-05T07:18:00.001-07:00

From June 10 -28 I'll have some pieces installed at

South Park Theater during their production of

I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change.

South Park Theater

Corrigan Drive & Brownsville Road, South Park, PA

412.831.8552

http://www.southparktheatre.com/

Pear

2009-06-01T20:05:00.001-07:00

commissioned painting
oil on canvas
2009
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Meeting of Important People CD release!

2009-04-03T08:01:00.000-07:00

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My good friends in the Pittsburgh-based indie/rock/pop group Meeting of Important People have just released their debut, self-titled album!

Check them out at http://meetingofimportantpeople.com/ and order a copy of the album!

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Té Café show update

2009-02-27T12:05:00.000-08:00

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7 of my paintings are currently hanging

at the Té Café in Squirrel Hill.
Check out the work until April 4, 2009!

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2000 Murray Ave, Pittsburgh, PA 15217

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Té Café's hours:

M - Th 9.00a - 10.00p
F 9.00a - 11.00p
Sat 10.00a - 11.00p Sun 11.00a - 10.00p

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Arts on Union show!

2009-02-02T10:26:00.000-08:00

The closing reception for the Arts on Union show was this past weekend! Thanks to Christine Goldbeck for all of her dedication and support!

Here are a couple of photos from the show...

Make sure to check out upcoming shows at the gallery at christinegoldbeck.com.
I'll be showing a couple of pieces in the Women in History show at the gallery in March.

Until then...

... I'll be installing a smaller show at the Te Cafe in Squirrel Hill, PA.
More details on receptions and closing dates to follow!

The Gift

2008-12-27T16:41:00.001-08:00

oil and screen printed images on burlap
2008
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Irish Breakfast and the new studio!

2008-12-01T19:46:00.001-08:00

Finally settled in the new house and studio and at long last have something to show for it!

oil on panel
2008
Pittsburgh, PA

NFS

The new studio! (And a sneak peek at some works-in-progress...)

Upcoming Exhibition

2008-12-01T19:26:00.000-08:00

Just a heads up to anyone around the Harrisburg area! I was asked to be the Feature Artist at the Arts on Union Gallery in Middletown, PA. I'll be installing the last weekend in December and the show will be up through the end of January. More info to come.

2008-11-26T05:36:00.000-08:00

"One has to believe in what one is doing, one has to commit oneself inwardly, in order to do painting. Once obsessed, one ultimately carries it to the point of believing that one might change human beings through painting. But if one lacks this passionate commitment, there is nothing left to do. Then it is best to leave it alone. For basically painting is idiocy."

-Gerhard Richter

Current Exhibitions

2008-09-11T08:30:00.000-07:00

So the Harrisburg show has been up for about a week now! Transporting 25 pieces across the state was a process and the installation was definitely an experience, but I'm really happy with the outcome and am excited for the closing reception on the 27th! Can't wait to see everyone out there!

4 pieces installed in the East Wing Rotunda

In the meantime, I've got a piece in the Fe Gallery's "In the Making: 250 Years/250 Artists" show in Lawrenceville, PA. 250 Pittsburgh/southwestern PA artists will be showing their work in celebration of Pittsburgh's 250th anniversary. They've also printed a color catalog of the exhibition which looks GREAT! Definitely try to see this show if you're in the area. The show looks awesome and is going to be a great visual of what's going on in the Pittsburgh art community.

Fe Gallery
4102 Butler Street, Lawrenceville, PA
Opening Reception:
September 12, 2008
7:30 - 10:30 pm

"That Box Under the Bed"

2008-09-01T20:51:00.001-07:00

2008
Oil, mirrors, sequins, and wire on burlap, mounted on lightbox
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Details:

"Il lascito di Michelangelo"

2008-08-27T10:50:00.000-07:00

Oil on canvas
2008
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Commissioned by Mr. John Malady

Upcoming Exhibition

2008-08-27T10:33:00.000-07:00

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September 01 - September 30

Pennsylvania State Capitol Building, East Wing Rotunda

"My Inside's Out" : A Solo Exhibition

N. 3rd and State Street
Harrisburg, PA 17120

Closing receptions:

Saturday, September 27 : 7:00pm - 9:00 pm

Monday, September 29 : 12:00 pm - 3:00 pm

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I'm heading up to Harrisburg to hang the show this weekend! The show will run through the entire month of September and the family/friends reception will be held on Saturday the 27th in the Rotunda. There will be free food & drinks and a performance by the Pittsburgh band Meeting of Important People!

www.myspace.com/meetingofimportantpeople

If you would like a mail invite with details about the reception, email me (mooseart84@comcast.net) with your address and I'll get one out to you!

"Joy/Reconciliation/Future: You decide."

2008-07-20T17:28:00.001-07:00

1 of 3

2 of 3

3 of 3

oil, marker, and charcoal on canvas
2008
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

"Take it in, Toasty!"

2008-07-16T08:08:00.000-07:00

oil on canvas
2008
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Rothko Chapel

2008-06-23T18:50:00.000-07:00

"Silence is so accurate."
-Mark Rothko
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I recently came across my journal response to the Rothko Chapel in Houston, TX. The words and image don't do the in-person experience justice to any degree, but I thought I'd post it here. Rothko is the man. :O)

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May 9, 2008

Absolute and utter silence.

I can hear every knee crack, every crinkling of paper and every breath.

///

After awhile, everything blends. Breath, steps, movement- all flowing together into this

slow,

tragic,

fluid movement.

The room itself is breathing quietly. The paintings that at first were flat and motionless have started breathing- almost painfully. A very shallow breath and a very deep, ragged breath at the same time.

Looking closely, you see the hand of the artist. You see “wounds” on the canvas. Areas of imperfection. Areas that make the surface very real.

///

Watching people interact with the room is such a beautiful thing too. People are open and free and willing to express themselves in an environment that is comfortable, soulful, deep, and meaningful.

What an amazing place for contemplation or prayer or emotion…

Rothko’s statement “I paint big to be intimate.” really comes to life here.

///

You can’t help but slow down.

Breathe.

Stop.

///

The design of the building is so obviously perfect for these paintings.

Even the doorways, and the shadows and the light that they present, add to the space.

The space is both organic and rigid.

The lighting from the ceiling is almost other-worldly. Dramatic. Soaking the top of the room and barely touching the floor.

///

The room is very much about

Light/dark contrast

Breathing easy and a sense of struggle at the same time.

I think it’s about that place that is so dark and so real.

A place we don’t often let ourselves go.

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"Two years, one wall."

2008-05-26T09:54:00.001-07:00

This piece is made up of the remnants of about 9 paintings that were painted on this wall in the past 2 years.

Details:

2006-2008
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Upcoming Exhibition

2008-05-20T20:16:00.000-07:00

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May 31 - June 13

Westmoreland County Community College

Westmoreland Art Nationals: Juried Fine Art and Photography Exhibit

145 Pavilion Lane, Youngwood PA 15697

Opening reception:

May 31

7:00 pm

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One of my older pieces, "Ask Me About Primanti's", was chosen for the Art Nationals. If you get out to Westmoreland to see the show, make sure you check out the Arts and Heritage Festival that will be going on at the same time! Both shows should be pretty cool, with both U.S. and international artists!

"I think, therefore I worry."

2008-05-19T08:28:00.000-07:00

oil on burlap
2008
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Upcoming Exhibition

2008-05-02T12:48:00.000-07:00

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May 11 - June 08

The Westmoreland Museum of American Art

Juried Biennial

221 North Main Street, Greensburg, PA 15601

Opening reception:

May 10

6:30 - 8:30

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My piece "Tu as aujourd'hui. (You have today.)" was chosen for the 2008 Biennial! If you're in the area, stop by and see the show!

Open Figure Drawing/Painting Session

2008-04-09T10:11:00.001-07:00

Pittsburgh artists:

The Watercolors Gallery (901 Penn Avenue) in downtown Pittsburgh has a great figure drawing session every week.

$10 suggested donation
6:30-9:30 pm
Professional models

Email: figuresession@verizon.net

"There she is... my pulse renewal."

2008-04-08T17:51:00.000-07:00

commissioned painting
oil on burlap
2008

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

An addition to "Let's play house...?"

2008-04-03T19:33:00.000-07:00

This was posted in the comments section of "Let's play house...?" on 4.3.08 by John Danchisko. We're in the process of working on a few painting/writing collaborations. I think this one deserves to be out here in the open...

Antithesis of Renaissance

How quickly snow fades to grass, or bones offer leaves;
In moments hair grows, skin wrinkles. Days break. Sunsets.
Triumph leads to fall - from mucous to
dust.
Silence. Gasping. Silence.
Destiny. Inevitability.
A return to innocence, void.

"Let's play house...?"

2008-02-22T08:14:00.000-08:00

oil on canvas
2008
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

NFS

"Well, here I am..."

2007-12-18T19:54:00.001-08:00

commissioned painting
oil on canvas
2007
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Reposted: "Soaked Up the Moment" and "Precipitation"

2007-12-05T19:59:00.000-08:00

An amazingly talented writer (who just happens to be a wonderful friend of mine) wrote "Precipitation" specifically about this piece for a show I did back in February of '05. The two belong together!

"Soaked Up the Moment"
oil on canvas
2005

Precipitation

lightning scored the evening

sky-tent canvas ceiling and

deep puddles fled

my footsteps-

those cool blue sprays were entropy-

things being how they would be

how they should be

how they can be

(as they are in First Design)

and reflection on the cobble-era pathways

dance electric, flicker pyric-

water,

itself a vessel,

bears me

ancient vision,

prismatic,

from the Architect

himself.

- Mary Elizabeth Gideon

"(W)HERE?"

2007-11-28T18:07:00.000-08:00

oil, watercolor pencil, charcoal, ink, and marker on panel
2007
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Mark Rothko in an interview with Selden Rodman, 1956

2007-10-30T20:34:00.001-07:00

"I'm interested only in expressing basic human emotion- tragedy, ecstacy, doom, and so on- and the fact that lots of people break down and cry when confronted with my pictures shows that I communicate those basic emotions... The people who weep before my pictures are having the same religious experience I had when I painted them. And if you, as you say, are moved only by their color relationships, then you miss the point!"

Jewell, Rothko, and Gottlieb in a letter to art critic Edward Alden, 1943

2007-10-30T20:13:00.001-07:00

"It is a widely accepted notion among painters that it does not matter what one paints as long as it is well painted. This is the essence of academicism. There is no such thing as a good painting about nothing. We assert that the subject is crucial and only that subject matter is valid which is tragic and timeless."

"The lights come on at 6am..."

2007-10-30T19:01:00.001-07:00

oil on burlap
2007
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

"Hello, unemployment..."

2007-10-30T18:11:00.000-07:00

charcoal, conte, ink, and one "Needs Assesment" (courtesy of Bankers Life and Casualty Company) on cardboard
2007
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

2007-08-25T07:02:00.000-07:00

Art is the image of a human being. This means that when a person is confronted with art, then they are in fact confronted with their own self, and so open their own eyes.

And so it is the creative person who is addressed, their creativity, their freedom, their autonomy.

And this is only possible using the concept of art; however, this concept must be made more comprehensive. You cannot and should not deal with this concept traditionally and say: THAT is what artists do, and THAT is what engineers do. ... But you can get beyond the concept. And the only escape route is a more comprehensive concept of art that is anthropological and that is taken seriously: that everyone is an artist, and that every person has a creative core.

-Joseph Beuys

From the sketchbook

2007-08-12T13:17:00.000-07:00

Currently working on transforming a few of these into larger scale drawings.

"The Only Way I Can Talk About It"

2007-06-24T14:12:00.000-07:00

oil on burlap
2007
Pont-Aven, France/Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

SOLD

"New History"

2007-05-26T07:43:00.000-07:00

oil on burlap sacks
2007
PSCA
Pont-Aven, France

"Tu as aujourd'hui. (You have today.)"

2007-05-26T07:28:00.001-07:00

oil on burlap
2007
PSCA
Pont-Aven, France

(Details)

"Le Bois d'Amour"

2007-05-26T07:24:00.001-07:00

foil, dirt, and grass on burlap
placed in various locations and photographed
2007
PSCA
Pont-Aven, France

Various Works on Paper

2007-05-26T07:21:00.001-07:00

"Untitled"

"Untitled"

SOLD

"For Toast"

"Untitled"

(all)
2007
PSCA
Pont-Aven, France

"Everything Beautiful and Different"

2007-05-26T07:19:00.000-07:00

oil on burlap
2007
PSCA
Pont-Aven, France

"These Small Things I'm Leaving Behind"

2007-05-26T07:18:00.000-07:00

oil on burlap
2007
PSCA
Pont-Aven, France

"Out of the Garage: The Result of Heat and Light"

2007-05-26T07:17:00.001-07:00

oil on burlap
2007
PSCA
Pont-Aven, France

NFS

"Sippin' Raspberry Berets"

2007-05-26T07:12:00.000-07:00

commissioned painting
oil on burlap
2007
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

"Passed to the Present, Past to the Future"

2007-05-26T07:10:00.000-07:00

commissioned by Frank Bryan, Inc.
oil on burlap
2006
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

"Coming Up!"

2007-05-26T07:09:00.000-07:00

commissioned painting
oil on burlap
2006
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

"Where's her Wonder? Here's our wonder!"

2007-05-26T07:07:00.000-07:00

commissioned painting
oil on canvas
2006
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

"Pleasure Town? Not So Much..."

2007-05-26T07:05:00.000-07:00

oil on canvas
2006
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

SOLD

"Ask Me About Primanti's"

2007-05-26T07:04:00.001-07:00

oil on canvas

2006
Miami University
Oxford, Ohio

B.F.A. Show- Miami University

2007-05-26T06:58:00.000-07:00

"Allowed to Breathe"

NFS

"Streak! (Not Steak...)"

"Satuday Morning and Five O'Clock Sun"

"Life is Complicated... Oh, Shoot!"

"What Keeps You From Being Free?"

"This is Tunch."

(all)
oil on canvas

2006

"Feminist Self-Portrait"

2007-05-26T06:56:00.000-07:00

oil on canvas
2005
Art 480: Women in Art History assignment
Miami University
Oxford, Ohio

NFS

"Soaked Up the Moment"

2007-05-26T06:55:00.000-07:00

oil on canvas
2005
Miami University
Oxford, Ohio

"Venezia!"

2007-05-26T06:54:00.001-07:00

oil on canvas

2005
Miami University
Oxford, Ohio

NFS

"Reflections of Murano"

2007-05-26T06:53:00.001-07:00

oil on canvas
2005
Miami University
Oxford, Ohio

SOLD

"Where the Heart Is"

2007-05-26T06:51:00.001-07:00

oil on canvas
2005
Miami University
Oxford, Ohio

SOLD

"David Hicks"

2007-05-26T06:33:00.000-07:00

commissioned portrait (for HHM Insurors)
oil on panel
2005
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

"We've Got Betty Davis Eyes"

2007-05-26T06:32:00.001-07:00

Summer Leaves a Legacy Series
3 of 3
oil on canvas
2005
Miami University
Oxford, Ohio

SOLD

"Sunday Summer Nights"

2007-05-26T06:31:00.001-07:00

Summer Leaves a Legacy Series
2 of 3
oil on canvas
2005
Miami University
Oxford, Ohio

"I Never WAS Any Good at Pool..."

2007-05-26T06:29:00.001-07:00

Summer Leaves a Legacy Series
1 of 3
oil on canvas
2005
Miami University
Oxford, Ohio

SOLD

"Untitled"

2007-05-26T06:25:00.001-07:00

charcoal on paper
2005
Miami University
Oxford, Ohio

NFS

"Through the Bottle"

2007-05-26T06:23:00.001-07:00

oil on canvas
2005
Miami University
Oxford, Ohio

SOLD

"Life in a Pill"

2007-05-26T06:21:00.000-07:00

oil on canvas

2005
Miami University
Oxford, Ohio

"Gamble"

2007-05-26T06:19:00.000-07:00

oil on canvas
2005
Miami University
Oxford, Ohio

"Moose"

2007-05-26T06:12:00.000-07:00

oil on canvas
2004
Miami University
Oxford, Ohio