Artwork Notes & Backstories


Free Range #20: Overwhelmed

07/31/2015

Odometer: 935.8 miles

The coast of California is not fair. For every spot surfed or vista painted there’s a multitude of others that will have to wait for another day. Been enjoying this paint tour, but my heart breaks for all that I’ve seen and haven’t had time to stop for. It doesn’t matter how many times one makes this trip, many a stone will always be left unturned. So do not weep for me, not that you would, but weep for us all and all of the hidden beauty around each bend that this fleeting life is too short to take in. Yes, weep, but not in sorrow, weep for joy! For there is always more out there and none of us will ever be able to say sadly say that we’ve seen it all. We haven’t come close.

Silver and gold
I do not have
Wait… gold
I have that
And you’re welcome to it
You only have to look
Around.


Free Range #19: Like a Bridge Over Troubled Womp

07/31/2015

Odometer: 887.8 miles

Well, not really. I’m sure the womp down there is perfectly content to be left alone and only viewed from above. The only troubled ones would be the prospective wompees passing by hankering for some all-time scenic & historical womp. Access down there isn’t easy. This one is for all my boardless wave sliding friends. May your goat trails always be passable.

Separated at birth
An island
Adrift
From the motherland
She always dreamed of the day
The cartographers
Would come
And make things right
The Alta
And the Baja
So close
But a world away
Until the bridge
Spanned the final distance
At last
Reunited
The map has been redrawn


Free Range #18: Punk Rocks

07/30/2015

Odometer: 862.3 miles

Beautiful coast here. Almost too beautiful for painting as it draws throngs of visitors from all over the world in a constant stream of selfie sticks, bored kids on family vacation that will not be impressed by anything analog, and well, bearded painters too I suppose (though I was the only one out there on this day). The trouble with all this activity is the constant stream of nice folks who want to know if I’m making a living from art. I’m not sure why that is the question most often asked these days, but it is. In a crazy busy place like this one I get tired of fielding that inquiry and quickly run out of new ways to answer it on the spot so I prefer to wear headphones and enjoy some blindingly loud music so I don’t hear anything anyone has to say. I even sing along loudly from time to time in case they don’t see the headphones. This piece was painted with some enjoyable punk rock that brought me back to my teenage years. The fast pace forced a bit of a different vibe and kept it rough around the edges. Funny how that works. When you first saw this painting scrolling through your feed, you didn’t think to yourself, “oooo, looks like 80’s punk rock”, did you? No, you did not. But look again, and now you do. Neat huh?


Free Range #17: Oh the Humanity

07/30/2015

Odometer: 800.1 miles

This town is nuts. Lineups crawling with surfers of all skill levels. Surfed one wave about 3 feet from the cliff with 2 other surfers in front of me on a soft top and a stand up paddle board. I don’t think they even knew I was there. Watched soft top’s board get washed into a hole in the cliff and disappear a few waves later. Never saw if he was able to retrieve it or not. Hopefully it want a rental. And possibly on the best wave of my trip so far, took a high line to gain speed to drop around a long section, getting excited for the wall stretching out ahead and BAM! Hit by a board out of nowhere, never saw it coming. Fortunately it was just a good crack to the thigh, not the head. I held on and made it around the section, but then I realized what had happened and wondering if I was hurt or not and dug a rail cause I wasn’t in the moment anymore. Came up grumbling, mostly mad that I blew it for no good reason after holding on through the worst of it. The guy who bailed his board asked if I got that wave when I paddled back out. I wasn’t super happy and did kinda let him know. Mostly just to hang on to his board better, but I wasn’t so mad at him as myself for blowing it. Any apparent disgruntlement was likely just leftovers from yesterday’s run in with the cherry slinger. Anyway, I figured it was appropriate to share all that as this is the first piece of this art tour to include people in it. They could not be avoided. Literally.


Free Range #16: Sweet Cherries for Sale

07/29/2015

Odometer: 766.8 miles

I was digging this roadside view on the coast beside a nearby produce stand’s sign announcing “Sweet Cherries for Sale” and had just gotten set up
when the cherry slinger walked up and told me I’d have to move.

He said I was blocking his Sweet Cherries sign. I wasn’t, but I could see how from over at his stand it might look that way. I began to tell him about my road trip and how far I’d traveled to paint this spot, which he seemed to immediately take as a challenge and
interrupted to inform me bluntly that he’d driven all the way from Modesto… Ouch, he got me there.

And furthermore, he informed me that he had a permit to set up there, and even furthermore that since he was there first there was no point finding a mutually beneficial solution.

He was real good at cussing too. His parting shot was that I had to move or he would call the sheriff and have me forced to relocate.

A few minutes after he left I was still standing in the back of the van, wondering if this view was really worth the hassle when I look down out of my side window and see the feet of a uniformed official step out of his truck and approaching on foot. I was shocked that Sweet Cherry Man had the pull to get an officer out that quickly. I resigned to pack it up as I hadn’t started painting yet anyway.

The official comes around to the back of the van and starts right off telling me I wouldn’t be able to park there… then his face came into focus… and it was none other than a long-time friend and college housemate of mine who had been working with the State Parks doing trail construction in this area for years.

Apparently he’d driven by, saw me setting up in the van and talking to Sweet Cherry Man, and was just stopping to say hi and figured he’d joke around with me about moving the van as he walked up. He had no idea about Sweet Cherry Man’s problems with me being here.

So we talked for a bit in full view of Sweet Cherry Man and after we were done catching up and arranging to connect later that evening for a meal and some beers, we decided to make a real show of him pointing at the van and at the Sweet Cherry sign and back at the van. Then I’d simply move the van forward and back a few feet and carry on as I’d now be safely parked and positioned by an Authority of the California State Parks. We even staged a very intentional handshake for added emphasis.

I was never blocking the sign, and permit or not (we were pretty sure he made that part up), he didn’t own the side of the highway anyhow.

Pretty funny to think of Sweet Cherry Man down there, after giving me that earful then seeing me talking it over with a very official-looking park ranger (who drove up in a state park truck with a siren and everything) and then staying put.

I wasn’t finished painting when Sweet Cherry Man closed down for the day. When he came over to get his sign, he backed up as close as he could to the back of my van and made a solid effort to spray my van with gravel as he put all the horsepower his Chevy Astro could muster on the line. It was a rather unfruitful display of vehicular disgust.

But the biggest disappointment was that I had forever missed my chance to walk down there and purchase some of them Sweet Cherries from Modesto.

-Entry on July 29, 2015


Free Range #9: Angles

07/25/2015

Odometer: 389.1 miles

The fog bank stuck around all day, threatening to shut down my art operations at any moment. When I rounded a point that marks a significant change in the angle the coast faces, from northwest to southwest, I figured the little micro climate created in the lee of the point would be my best bet for some stable sunshine. This place wasn’t on my list to paint, but I was concerned about heading any further and back into the fog. Just like a surf trip, the main rule is to never pass up a decent setup, enjoy what is there in the moment. Epic days happen when they happen, but you can drive around all day looking for them and not find them at all.

The beauty affects you
Right away
The oak, however
Can take a week or two


Free Range #11: Come and Go

07/24/2015

Odometer: 533.1 miles

The fog was relentless here. Spent a lot of time noodling around with the foreground waiting for the whiteout to lift from this epic hilltop vantage point.


Free Range #4: Entrance

07/22/2015

Odometer: 179.8 mi

Last one from my home territory. Hitting the road tomorrow a.m. Huge thanks to everyone that has made suggestions, requests, and commitments for the pieces I’ll be painting each day of this trip. You have all helped make this trip possible and you have my gratitude. I’ll try not to blow it. 


Free Range #3: Maybe Later

07/21/2015

Odometer 149.6 miles

Got a little sidetracked already. Trying to get just the right angle to paint from the van for the previous painting, my front bumper just grazed the railing on the roadside… and promptly broke, bent, and dislodged itself halfway off. Not wanting to spend this whole drive wondering if it would fall off completely, I figured I should take care of it sooner than later. Fortunately this all happened very close to home, making things simple. But in the rush of taking care of business to begin the real road trip down the state, this little funky one is, all I could muster up. Looking forward to points south soon, hopefully tomorrow. 


Free Range #2: Leeward

07/20/2015

Odometer: 75.4 miles

I often paint right out the back or side of my van, literally standing up inside the thing, enjoying the shade and windblock it provides. The added elevation gain is a nice bonus as well, and sometimes it’s the only reason I paint from in there. On this day it was all three. Bright and windy, and if I stood on the ground outside I just couldn’t see over the bushes in the foreground. I know it only adds about two feet or so, but that can make all the difference.

Sometimes I get a bit picky and want to position the van just so, getting the perfect view out the door. This one was just past a large parking area as it narrowed back on to the road. It took a bit of positioning to get the view without blocking the road at all. Due to the tight squeeze, I was parked right up against the roadside guard rail.

It all worked out great until it was time to go. Somehow an edge of my bumper got caught on a spot where two railings overlapped. As I pulled away it just about ripped the front of the van off. That might be an exaggeration, but still, it was beyond me to fix it. Had to take it to a body shop later to sort that one out.


Free Range #1: Waiting for the Day to Warm Up

07/19/2015

Odometer: 0.00 miles

Kicking off the tour of California’s coast with some river time near the Oregon Border. Mornings have a bit of a chill that make swimming sound a little better… later. Like after this quick painting. Took a four hour swim with the family up the river right after this one. 


Time Zone # 2

07/14/2015

Plein air, but with a twist.

Traditional plein air work involves working fast to give an impression of the place at a particular time of day. The changing nature of light throughout a day limits the working time for a single session so larger pieces usually involve multiple sessions returning to the same location at the same time on different days.

This Timezone series is a slow cooking experiment in painting larger works in single sessions over a longer period, all day even, while still remaining true to the traditional plein air ethos. Each vertical band represents a different “timezone” painted quickly to reflect the light conditions of that fleeting moment.


Passing Through V

07/10/2015

Painted live for a friend’s going away party gift. These passing through series pieces represent something very simple for me: the movement of energy through any medium. I painted the first one live at a music festival in southern Humboldt while on my home from San Francisco. Just passing through. Something resonated with that one and I’ve done several more since then. In this case the vertical bands in the piece seem to me like periods of a person’s life, where significant life-changing events happen, new chapters are begun but the same vitality of life keeps flowing through from one to the next. Ok. That is all. Robin from HumBrews, I wish you the best in your next chapter.


Airwaves

07/09/2015

Painted live on the radio?
Yep, live radio.

KHUM with Mike Dronkers in the KHUM studio in Ferndale, CA.  Huge thanks to @mikedronkers and @khumradio for letting this happen. If you squint your eyes and stand on your head and sip an IPA while viewing this one you’ll clearly see Mike spinning tunes from the control booth at KHUM on his 7th to last radio show here. We’re gonna miss this guy.


Time Zone # 1

07/06/2015

Plein air, but with a twist.

Traditional plein air work involves working fast to give an impression of the place at a particular time of day. The changing nature of light throughout a day limits the working time for a single session so larger pieces usually involve multiple sessions returning to the same location at the same time on different days.

This Timezone series is a slow cooking experiment in painting larger works in single sessions over a longer period, all day even, while still remaining true to the traditional plein air ethos. Each vertical band represents a different “timezone” painted quickly to reflect the light conditions of that fleeting moment.


Passing Through IV

07/04/2015

“Freedom doesn’t exist out there, real freedom is within…” that was a passing thought while painting this one in full art hobo mode operating in a small shady alley in the beautiful town of Ferndale, CA on the fourth of July this year. Pretty random. I think I was trying to paint the American flag, but something went a bit sideways… I can only guess what the townsfolk thought of the hairy hobo arting out water rainbows in their alley during their patriotic street party. Nobody told me to leave so I’m calling it a win.


Out of Sight, Out of Mind

06/01/2015

I’d be lying if I said I didn’t hide from a helicopter and duck for cover in the bushes by the train tracks twice on my way to get this view. Graffiti guys deal with this sort of thing all the time, plein air guys not so much. That was fun.

Sounds like its been an intense week for folks that live here and love and care for this coast. Another oil spill is just another example of how the cost of living our lives plays out in many ways.

Big thanks to my friends Guner, John, Mike, and Chris for all the Intel and access logistics.


Beautiful from Here

06/01/2015

 Always dug the graphic road vibes on this one. There may or may not have been boats anchored just to the left of the frame cleaning up* an oil spill from a busted pipe on the side of the highway. Either way, the color if the water in this little cove was incredible.

*or just dumping poisonous dispersant in the water to break up the oil and put it out of sight, out of mind. I hope I heard that wrong.


Architecture of Flow

05/08/2015

This was a recent live art piece I did to benefit the surf and skate club at Trinidad School. I had a few buddies and a handful of kids skating past my paint table and grabbing brushes to drag across the canvas set up a few yards away, then circle back to relay another pass. Did that for 20 or 30 passes or so then went to work building the painting on the architecture of flow they had laid out.