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10.13.07
Tonight:
The Pittsburgh Society of Sculptors' fall exhibition, "Elements
of Glass" opens at the Panza Gallery in Millvale, PA.
My piece, A History
of Poison, is included in the show for its use of glass.
The opening runs from 6-9 PM this evening and the show will
run Oct. 13 - Nov. 10th. The gallery address is: 115 Sedgewick
Street, Millvale, PA 15209. Stop by and check it out if you
are in the area.
10.01.07
Above:
The Pod, 2007. This
piece consists of a found metal spigot handle with a rust
patina and a dried seed pod with spikes (looks like a gumball,
but I lack the horticulture knowledge to accurately identify
it) in a rough cut, painted wood box. None of the pictures
I've taken of this piece do it justice. I'm posting this one
so that I can at least have it cataloged here and move on.
07.26.07
It's
almost laughable how long it's been since I updated this website.
I'd laugh, but what's the point. No excuses here, just lots
of good living. The photos above are from K and my honeymoon
in
Costa Rica. Nature Air is the national airline in Costa Rica
delivering passengers throughout the country in under 45 minutes.
Thank god for that. If it wasn't the barn we boarded the plane
from or the machette weilding farm hands who had to duck during
takeoff and approach, it was the low flying turbulance laden
flight watching the two pilots tinker with knobs, seemingly
adjusting and unadjusting what the other had just done without
any visible communication, that made 45 minutes seem like
a lifetime.
02.21.07
I will
be showing recent assemblage and collage alongside artist
Richard
Schnap at Dorothy 6, the new exhibition space of Pittsburgh
curator Lauri Mancuso, in a show titled "REINFORMATION".
The opening reception is this Friday, from 7-11pm. Details:
Dorothy
6
416 Library Street
Braddock, PA 15104
Friday, 2/23/2007
7-11 pm
02.04.07
Speak
No Evil? I cataloged this piece under collage because
it is two dimensional, incorporates paper and I don't have
a separate page devoted to painting. I don't paint that much
and I'm not that confident with a paint brush but I do like
the way this turned out and think that I'm going to continue
along these lines.
01.27.07
Above:
Blue Molten Box,
2005. This box is cataloged as sold because one of the seams
cracked when I rushed it into the fire before it was fully
dry. One of these days I will get around to repairing the
seam and if it turns out okay, I may list it for sale. For
now, I'm just posting it for reference purposes. Follow the
link for a shot of the box with the lid on.
01.17.07
Above:
A Glimpse Inside
the Box, 2005
This
is one of my favorite boxes to come out of the last fire.
It's hard to believe it's been over a year since I've been
in the clay studio. I'll be back working with clay in the
spring. It's been closed up for the winter. Since I was in
Philly and James Shipman has innumerable metal sculptures
to complete, he decided not to heat both spaces. The upside
of his decision is that I may finally get to learn to weld
this winter.
01.16.07
Above:
Balls on Box at Rest,
2005
Another
suggestion I've received is to post images of my ceramic boxes
with the lid removed in order to illustrate that they are
truly functional sculptures. I tried to do that with this
box. Follow the link above and you will see an alternate image
of the box with the lid removed. Needless to say, all of my
boxes open in a similar way even if they are not depicted
as such.
01.15.07
Above:
Fingered Tray
For the
longest time K and her mom joked that the "horns"
on the side of my ceramic boxes would be perfect for storing
rings. I was never to warm on the idea, but I figured if you
can't beat 'em, join 'em. So, I decided to make a jewelry
tray where the expressed use of the horns could be for storing
rings. It was an idea that sounded good on paper but in reality
the texture of the stoneware was too brutal for jewelry. As
a result, that tray is now used to store our keys and other
bric-a-brac. I really like the piece and will likely make
variations on this design at some point in the future. However,
since this particular tray was made for K, it's listed as
"not for sale". If you really like it I'd be happy
to make another one. Just send me an email
and we can work it out.
01.13.07
Happy
New Year and all that jazz. This year I'm not going to blow
smoke up anyone's ass and pretend like I'm going to be an
everyday blogger. From the start this site has always been
about the art and this year will be no different. I concede
that I don't intend to run this like a regular blog, but I
still intend to do a better job documenting my work and getting
it online. The first order of business is setting up that
photo booth I've been talking way too long about. Once that's
a lock I'll have no excuse for not posting more. Despite the
dormancy here on this site, I've been busy making things.
One big
reason I haven't been around (aside from all the labors of
moving into a new house) is that between Thanksgiving and
New Years, K and I drove over 2,000 miles visiting family
in Philly, St. Louis and New York. I'm sure I'm not the only
one who came off the holidays feeling like I needed a holiday
of my own. This should be our second weekend in a row without
a major commitment and I couldn't feel better about it. I'm
working on something new (despite numerous half completed
pieces) and its a totally new direction that should undoubtedly
proved both humbling and inspiring. So, with that in mind
check back here soon and see what I've got up my sleeve.
11.29.06
Trainspotting
in the Heartland: I know this image is a little awkward,
but I still haven't set up a proper photobooth to take pictures
in the new place. Still, I wanted to post something from the
piles of work from Philly that still need to be uploaded.
This piece consists of paper and plastic in a wood box. I
like it. I hope you like it. You
should buy it even. Remember, the holidays are upon us
and you can shop right here.
11.08.06
Nice work
at the polls everyone. Now with Rumsfled on the fire, I feel
like a mini-revolution has taken place even though I know
that nothing much will really change over the next two years.
I know
it's been a while since I've updated this site and I can assure
you it's not because I was out campaigning. Nope. I was moving.
K and I bought a house and moved back to Pittsburgh. Between
the packing and unpacking we've been tackling the list of
projects that comes along with an 80 year old house. Things
are finally settling down and I should be able to get back
into the swing of things.
In light
of my recent absence, I think a good song to share with you
would be Passed Out in Tokyo. This is a track that was recorded
in the Americonski practice space at Kevin's house. It wasn't
intended to be the final product but since the book was closed
on that chapter of the band when I moved to Philly, I think
it's worth sharing here.
I'm not
sure where things stand with Americonski now that I'm back.
I'm sure we'll play together again, but I just don't know
if it will be as Americonski anymore. In other music news,
for the first time in over five years all of the core members
of S.O.H.E. are living in the same place. So, look for some
new recordings from that collective in the future.
Without
further ado, I present to you Passed
Out In Tokyo by Americonski.
09.19.06
This
next track that I'm posting is for many the quintissensial
S.O.H.E track. Penned by Tom Mc. it is the tale of a futuristic
copulation device that I could try to explain to you, but
it's be best served if you just listen for yourself:
Shits
On Hand Ensemble: Robo-Cock
09.11.06
I
am slowly working myself up to posting some of the recordings
that I've made under the moniker Land Grab. On most of these
tracks I collaborated with members of either Americonski or
S.O.H.E. in an unofficial, piecemeal manner. Since I moved
to Philly I haven't had the benefit of such collaboration
and have had to learn to track everything myself. The results
have been slow going but I've got some new tracks to share.
However, I figure I'll start with some of the older stuff.
The
first Land Grab track I'm posting is one of my earliest home
recordings: Old Western Movies. The track was recorded with
S.O.H.E. core contributor Tom Mc. on guitar and myself on
bass with a little post production overdubs of William
S. Burroughs and Leadbelly
as well as some incidental percussion. It's a fairly sparse
improvisational piece and I think you'd have to be an advocate
Japanese noise like the Ruins
to fully appreciate it. Still, I encourage you to check it
out:
Land
Grab: Old Western
Movies
09.09.06
I
noticed that quite a few people out there downloaded the first
S.O.H.E. track but it seems like you readers are sleeping
on the most recent track. It really is quite different from
the first one. Don't be afraid. For those of you who prefer
something more accessible,try this:
Mooshi
Mooshi by Americonski.
On
a completely unrelated note, I should mention that my sister
would have been 35 years old today. Happy birthday, Jen.
09.06.06
The
next track I'll share with you is from the Shits On Hand Ensemble's
Automated Robot Banjo's EP (circa 2000). This track is much
different than the track I posted from the First Movement.
By this point, Kevin S. from Americonski had joined the ensemble
on keyboards and I'd actually acquired a complete drum kit
where in the First Movement we only had a couple of drums
and a crash cymbal stuck in the arm of a lazy-boy chair. The
track is still raw like earlier recordings, but has a bit
more depth.
Shits
On Hand Ensemble: Automated
Robot Banjos
Note:
If you tried to download the first track I posted on 8/30
and it didn't work, that problem has been addressed and the
link now works as should the one above.
08.30.06
My
friend Matt came down from NYC this past weekend and we took
in some Philadelphia sights and listened to some jams. He
encouraged me to get on the ball and post some early S.O.H.E.
recordings I was playing for him. So, I've taken that to heart
and have uploaded the first track ever recorded with the Shits
On Hand Ensemble. This track can be classified no other way
than noise. It is an all out attack that left my bass wounded
and stringless. With that being said, download at will:
Shits
On Hand Ensemble:
Food Handlers Please Wash Your Hands Before Touching the Shits
On Hand Ensemble.
08.22.06
Cloning:
I still need to set up a proper photo booth in my new place,
but this image will have to do for now. At $75, this is one
of my least expensive assemblages. So, those of you on a limited
budget, this is your chance to snatch one up.
I'm
really fond of the idea that cloning is an ancient ideal rather
than a modern scientific phenomena, which is what I am alluding
to by the plaid cloth and chess piece in this assemblage.
It seems to me that man's greatest effort on this earth has
been to protect and propel their own blood line, like the
kilt of a Scottish clan being thrown over over one great chess
match. It's an idea that growing an ear in a petri dish or
gestating an artificial sheep will never compete with. That
idea, coupled with the 1950's American aesthetic of pretty
young (white) women as the catalyst for said propulsion, is
something I find funny and sad.
Buy
it!
08.21.06
American Bandstand: I know it's only the pre-season
in the NFL and
that there may only be one descent quarter worth watching
in the standard warm up game, but I'm already lamenting Monday
Night Football's move to ESPN.
I haven't had cable in over ten years and this may be the
straw that breaks the camel's back.
08.20.06
As
you can see, there have been some changes here at grainbag.com.
After five years of serving the art community, this site is
being re-purposed. I founded the site to help artists expand
their market and with an international roster of artists and
clients, we have done just that. While I never could have
done it without all the participating artists and collaborators
along the way, at the end of the day the burden and responsibility
of daily maintenance fell on me alone. I've put myself and
my work second all this time and now the time has come to
put myself first.
If
you follow this site with any regularity, then I'm sure you've
observed a lack of updates in recent months. A good part of
that is due to to the extremely busy schedule I've been keeping
since moving to Philadelphia, but more significantly is the
amount of time I now spend working on my own assemblages.
With all the new artwork overtaking my walls, I'll be working
full time documenting my work and posting it here under this
new format.
I've
broken the work into categories. Thus far I've posted a sample
of my assemblage, ceramics and collage. In time I'll add random
photography and music that I recorded with my band Americonski,
the musical collective S.O.H.E as well as home recordings.
Each of the sections thus far are broken into two groups:
work for sale and work that has been sold. In this fashion,
grainbag will serve as a market place for my artwork as well
as a digital portfolio. Focusing my efforts in this manner
will allow me time to catalog older work that has never been
posted on grainbag and get the latest work on-line as it comes
out of the studio.
In
addition to the pragmatic side of re-purposing this site,
it will allow me to inject more of my personality into grainbag.
There are a lot of places I was hesitant to go because I felt
a need to maintain a certain level of formality as a business
owner. With this new format I feel as though I'll be able
to throw that reverence under the bus and bring out more of
my own slanted and often times cynical voice that heretofore
was only evident in the subtext of my artwork. Hopefully you
will find the redesign entertaining and will continue to make
grainbag a regular stop on your Internet travels. Most importantly,
I hope you will continued to use grainbag as a valuable source
for original artwork on the Internet.
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