an adventure in the arts, an exhibition of 73 pieces by 60 artists of the 20th century, opens @ the museum of the rockies today and runs runs may 13th. courtesy of the guild hall museum in east hampton ny. i'm taking my drawing class to the show. more info on the museum or the collection: http://www.a-r-t.com/guildhall/

los angeles based drawing installation artist, karl haendel, will be giving a presentation @ 6:30 tonight in 215 cheever hall on the msu campus. i'm psyched to be going with my representational drawing class.

inspiring event @ the historic ellen theater last night began with michael newhouse's witty presentation - read it and weep: adventures in bad typography. pecha kucha (sounds like chit-chat in japanese) was created by a tokyo architectural firm in 2003 and has grown to about 450 cities around the world. more info: facebook at pecha-kucha-bozeman or pechakuchabozeman@gmail.com

chinese new year begins today. celebrations continue until 2/6 this year. the year of the dragon symbolizes power, strength & good luck. may the force be with you.

an installation by 2010 msu grad, brittany watkins, @ the exit gallery in msu's strand union bldg., rm. 212. watkins was published in international sculpture magazine, october 2011. on view 1/23 - 2/3. reception: 1/25, 5-7pm

the previous post's pic reminds me of my friend kellyann burns studio work wall. it's also the opening shot for her web site. check it out. she's an amazing and prolific painter working in the can factory in nyc: http://www.kellyannburns.com/

great shot and write-up about ellsworth kelly in the ny times: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/22/arts/design/ellsworth-kelly-explorer-of-shape-line-and-color.html?pagewanted=all

while in jackson hole over the weekend, i was fortunate to see bernd haussman's large & luscious painting, "1344 untitled (my secret work)", 60" x 96", mixed-media on canvas @ the tayloe pigett gallery (formerly muse gallery). last winter i saw some of haussmann's edgy paintings, with slick resin-like surface on aluminum, in scottsdale. more info:  http://www.jhmusegallery.com/

cheers to an inspiring, fulfilling & healthy 2012!

JR's TED talk: http://www.ted.com/talks/jr_s_ted_prize_wish_use_art_to_turn_the_world_inside_out.html

korean (south) k pop

speaking of uniformity. kim jong il died yesterday. this is his army.

cornelia parker's chalk rocks installation, "edge of england", is one of my favorite things to see @ the mam. i didn't get a good picture though. here is another beauty from frith street gallery in london: "cold dark matter".

"symbolic smile" painting by yue minjun w/yue in foreground. 

alternate view of "chinese warriors"@ the mam.

yue minjun's chinese warriors in milwaukee art museum's long hallway. you can see the beautiful play of light in the santiago calatrava designed space. yue minjun's warriors are repeated images of himself with "symbolic smiles" that are mindlessly happy in their uniformity. compliant citizens of an absurd army convey "see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil".

milwaukee art museum, view over looking the lake as you enter

back home from mke. whenever i am in milwaukke i visit the milwaukke art museum. the santiago calatrava stucture is fabulous.

congratulations! big sky documentary film festival received a $10,000 grant from the academy of motion picture arts to support special programming @ their 9th annual film festival (feb 17-26, missoula, mt). more info: http://www.bigskyfilmfest.org/

check out muniz's TED talk on youtube, as well.

by greg miller. i picked up his catalog for "notorious" while in california @ caldwell snyder gallery. his work has inspired some of my drawing students' layering/mixed-media projects. "notorious" opens tomorrow, 11/12, at campton gallery in NYC. exhibition continues through 11/30/2011.

heal well.

got to see some paul balmer paintings @ caldwell snyder gallery. 

roadtrip thru northern california to install a show at humboldt state u in arcata.

HSU museum studies students helped install our show. here's will after completing the installation of "ripple":

partial gallery view of our show

w/ralph wiegmann @ reese bullen gallery, humboldt state university, arcata, ca. oct 20 - nov 17. opening reception: thursday 10/20, 4:30 - 6:30pm

studio snapshot of my "sequent" series for an upcoming exhibition:

exceptional quality. paul's latest endeavor: budnitz bicycles. not for the feint of heart.

by esther stocker. very cool.

Yolanda Be Cool - We No Speak Americano (Video edit by Pink louder)YouTube - 

vocal sample from Tu Vuo Fa L Americano

gary bates, bozeman sculpture park, behind the public library.

3 decades and still relevant, R.E.M. calls it quits.

last night, msu visiting artist pitiwat somthai, spoke about his prints, sculpture & installations. his work is philosophical, reflects upon life cycle, mind/body, exchange of energy, buddhist teachings, and encourages viewers to examine their personal feelings through the artwork. he will work w/msu students to create an installation that "moves a mountain" into the copeland gallery.

msu school of art visiting artist, pitiwat somthai - from burapha university in thailand - will be here until oct 22nd. 

backpacking in the tetons with friends over labor day weekend was good for the soul.

ralph heading down the trail. still lots of flowers in the high country after a very wet spring. inspiring palette.

site plan for the bozeman sculpture park, which opens tomorrow. more info: http://www.bozemansculpturepark.org/

opens tomorrow, celebration & ice cream social 10am - 2pm, dedication @ 11:00: behind the bozeman public library. tracy linder sculpture @ the south end of the park: 

sent this closing exhibition announcement for "rotation", the group show she's in @ lohin-geduld gallery in NYC. closing reception: thursday 8/25, 5-7pm. 

getting ready for a show at humboldt state university in october. expanding a series, drawing on walls, and working on a 5' x5' companion piece to this painting (from the visions west show this summer):

some friends host an annual summer event: backyard movie night. shown on the former rialto theater's large movie screen, last night's viewing was under a full moon & was served up w/popcorn, movie candy and a red rum bevvie, complete w/red vine straws.

under a big rising moon last night, the ahn trio played an outdoor concert in big sky. persieds meteor showers showered. beautiful night. beautiful music. angela ahn lives in bozeman and teaches viloin in the musci dept @ msu. the trio plays a number of pieces written by composer kenji bunch. those were my favorite pieces. though i did love hearing their cover of the doors' riders in the storm.

played @ peach street studios (great acoustics) in bozeman recently.

went to missoula last weekend for 3 friends' birthday celebration. also enjoyed the farmers market at the riverfront park then strolled to the missoula art museum to see wendy red star's exhibition, "home is where my tipi sits". i particularly appreciated viewing red star's video inside her lodge. the image below, "spring", however, is from PDX gallery in portland.

"polar opposites", ceramic installation by pat hoffman @ the missoula art museum.

tucson artist, bill mackey, featured @ the mercantile 'first friday'/open studios in the misco mill, friday, augus 5th, 601 e. cottonwood, n.e. bozeman's 'blight' zone.

to great surprise and enormous emotional relief, gabrielle giffords appeared on the house floor last night to cast her vote in the debt ceiling debacle. that's our arizona gal!

gabriel kulka "robots". see more of kulka's work @ the "human nature" exhibition @ turman larison contemporary, & http://www.gabrielkulka.com

we've lost the beautiful & talented amy winehouse through addiction. she was 27 years old. its not romantic. its tragic.

australia's 34 year old cadel evans wins the best tour de france in recent (& not-so-recent) memory. former mountain bike racer, and 2x world cup mountain bike winner, cadel is the 1st aussie, and the eldest, tour de france winner since wwII.

went to the gabriel kulka & michael haykin opening @ turman larison contempory in helena last night. strong & sensitive work, as always. here's a little kulka sculpture from their "human nature" exhibition, "stars & spider eggs":

michael haykin's "boulder river", 36" x 48", oil on canvas, in the "human nature" exhibition w/gabriel kulka @ turman larison contemporary. 7/22 - 8/20, 2011

"peacetime", 60" x 78" @ frederic boloix fine art in ketchum. salustiano's reds are amazing & intense. they play tricks on my eye.

looking up through a patrick dougherty installation on site & future site of the new sun valley center for the arts. dougherty used cut willow and all natural materials harvested from local land. i saw a windswept installation of his years back at the boise art museum. check out more of his work @:www.stickworth.net

the culture of bicycles.  sun valley center for the arts, ketchum, id. "through this multidisciplinary project, the center celebrates the bicycle in all its forms and uses – as a means of transportation, a vehicle for recreation, and also a site for innovation in design and engineering – a place where craft and industry intersect. an exhibition in ketchum features work by contemporary artists exploring bicycles as aesthetic objects, economic tools and essential means of transport. it also includes a selection of custom and historic bicycles – bikes made using the finest design, craftsmanship and materials."  artists: lisa auerbach, margarita cabrera, Dzine, katina huston, dinh q. le.  bike makers: ahearne cycles, hufnagel cycles, schwinn.

katina huston: book (second light), 24" x24", ink on mylar.

spent a long weekend in ketchum & sun valley. looked at artwork, ate sushi, took a long hike, heard a piano performance in the sun valley pavilion, watched friends race in the mountain bike cross-country national championships & got to see georgia gould win the pro women's national x-c championship. (lea davidson won 2nd, katie compton 3rd, heather irminger 4th, kelli emmett 5th/final podium spot). here's a pic of georgia coming down the "rock waterfall". its much steeper than it appears.

photo credit: trailwatch.net

big timber, montana. tom ferris photo from 4th of july weekend.

untitled cy twombly painting

over the iverson ranch. big timber, montana.

last day of the "montana avant garde" exhibition @ visions west gallery w/painters ted waddell, arin waddell, ralph wiegmann & will pope. here's one of my oils in the show, 48" x48":

cy twombley

cy twombley gallery in houston. cy w/ "say goodbye, cattulus, to the shores of asia minor"

my friend paul has a new book. a kids book that big people will appreciate too.

recent nyu film school grad steve girard send me a link to his blog: http://stevieeatsworms.tumblr.com/, he's posting a drawing a day:

more ceramics events. when i deliver some of my paintings to visions west gallery in denver i'll get to see the "overthrown: clay without limits" exhibition @ the denver art museum. on view until sept 18.

2010 archie brae foundation visiting artist, chris antemann, is also one of the 7 artists in the contemporary northwest art awards exhibition @ the portland art museum. here's a detail of one of her bacchanalian feasts:

"feast of impropriety"

"from the center to the edge": celebrating 60 years of creativity & innovation @ the archie brae, helena, mt. june 23 - 25, 2011. jun kaneko keynote speaker. closing w/the brickyard bash. i was fortunate enough to walk amongst kaneko's large sculptural heads @ gerald peters gallery in dallas (before peters closed his most contemporary gallery. he still has locations in santa fe & ny).  

in conjunction with the archie brae celebration @ turman larison contemporary: richard notkin, akio takamori & kurt weiser. helena, mt jun 23 - july 16. reception: jun 23, 7 - 10pm.

john grade, seattle based installation artist, is the winner of the arlene schnitzer prize, awarded last night at the portland art museum's "contemporary northwest art awards" ceremony. view more of grade's site work @: http://www.johngrade.com/projects

jerry iverson - friend, philosopher, farmer, artist - is in the 2nd "contemporary northwest art awards" at the portland art museum jun 11 - sep 11, 2011. one of 7 artists will receive a $10,000 award @ the reception this sat jun 18, 6-9pm. the 7 artists are: chris antemann, john buck, john grade, jerry iverson, susie lee, megan murphy & michelle ross.

jerry iverson, nerve block #39, sumi ink on papers on canvas, 79" x 78"

bozeman art walk tonight. i have work in the "rural montana avant garde" exhibition @ visions west. 6-8 pm, downtown bozeman. ted waddell is in the show. here's an image of his painting:

last year i volunteered for BYEP. this year's 10th anniversary spring run off fundraiser is tomorrow night @ the emerson cultural center. i'll be at our visions west gallery opening, but you can do both. more info about this effective organization w/low overhead, or for the fundraiser to help support at-risk youth, visit: http://www.byep.org/aboutUS

five of my pieces will be in the "montana rural avant grade" exhibition @ visions west in bozeman. opening for art walk, this friday, 6 - 8pm. exhibition: 6.10.11 - 7.8.11.

here are some cole morgan paintings. i'll get to see some of his work at gail severn in ketchum this summer and then san francisco in the fall. morgan lives and works in antwerp. his surfaces are exquisite, his paint handling masterful, and his imagery magical. the previous aerial boat shot reminded me of his paintings.

this shot from the recent issue of surfer's journal reminds me of a cole morgan painting.

fare the well

if you haven't heard it, listen to gil scott-heron's "i'm new here", released last year.  it'll will break your heart.

its a long drive across nebraska.

what i really would liked to have seen while in kansas city was the "america: now and here" installation at leedy-voulkos art center. the brain-child of eric fischl is a "cross-country journey of art & ideas w/some of america's most celebrated visual artists, musicians, poets, playwrights, and filmmakers". beginning in kansas city, up thru may 28th, 11am-7pm wednesday - saturday.

cool print from kansas city's arts, entertainment, events calendar, etc: pitch.com

on the way home from our recent road trip to missouri to get my mom's sweet little horse property ready for sale we stopped in kansas city. unfortunately, it was a monday, so we missed seeing the art in the crossroads area galleries, but there's lots of street art & good coffee in KC.

  "sequent", my show w/ralph wiegmann closes today. you can still check it out @ turman larison contemporary on last chance gulch in helena, mt. open until 4:00pm saturdays & by appointment: 406.443.0340.  here's another gallery view of the show:

a closer view of 2 of ralph's paintings @ turman larison contemporary. one of mine is in the middle.

another view of ralph wiegmann's & my show show at turman larison contemporary: "sequent", on view thru may 21st.

full view of my "caribe series, i-xi", encaustic on panel, varying height X 144"L x 3.5"d @ turman larison contemporary in helena, mt. thru may 21.

another piece in the turman larison contemporary show, helena, mt. encaustic on panel, 24" x24" x3.5"

my diptych in the "sequent" show at turman larison contemporary. encaustic on panel, 8"h x 20"w x 3.5"d

one of my triptychs @ turman larison contemporary in helena, mt. the show, "sequent", w/ralph wiegmann is up thru saturday, may 21st.

some of ralph's & my work @ turman larison contemporary in helena thru may 21.

image from my show w/ralph wiegmann @ turman larison contemporay in Helena, mt. thru may 21st.

front window display of ralph wiegmann paintings.

wyoming jackalope

all of bomb snow's covers are rad but this is my all-time fav. cover art from this winter season by stefan hofmann, who lives in bali, has a clothing, design biz, & blog. check it out @: http://www.spacecraftcollective.com. todd heath started bomb snow & was in my advanced drawing class some years back, along w/other  creative co-operatives of the "unplug corporates media malarkey" crew: DZ, ryan wilson, kate, josh apple. live large.

one of my triptychs in "sequent"- my show w/ralph wiegmann. totem: 52"h x 15"w x 3.5"d, encaustic on handmade panels. @ turman larison contemporary in helena, montana until may 21.  http://www.turmanlarisoncontemporary.com

the best of the broads, hosted by pulitzer-prize winning columnist (and katie's mom) ellen goodman. its smart, timely, uproarious, and a little-bit-bawdy. its the end of april and still snowing in montana, for some comic relief come down to the emerson cultural center, bozeman, mt. 4/28/11 - 4/30/11. 8pm  http://www.broadcomedy.com

not the easter bunny. dancing hares by mike nelson: "foxtrot", mixed-media on wood, 15"x15".  we saw this piece in santa fe a while ago at chiaroscuro gallery - now gebert contemporary. 

ralph wiegmann painting currently in our show "sequent" @ turman larison contemporary in helena, mt. "transported", 36" x 54", oil on canvas.

"home on the range" by willem volkersz - neon artist & msu school of art professor/chair emeritus - is part of his upcoming "domestic neon" exhibition @ flagstaff cultural partners in flagstaff, az. this installation includes neon and kittchy travel souvenirs to tell stories of his boyhood, emigration, travel and life in the west. learn more: http://willemvolkersz.com/

reception: may 28, 6-8pm.  talk: may 28, 6:30pm.  show: june 1 - july 30

new york girl moves to montana, writes a blog, one of my favs. by friend & neighbor, brooke green: matzahtomorels.blogspot.com. check it out. you'll laugh, you'll weep, you'll discover secret recipes. latest entry: 'the shiksa'.

inspired design by ixtla vaughan: www.getidesign.com. ixtla is also part of the dynamic team teaching graphic design at montana state university's school of art.

many resonate voices as one unique voice: belgian girls choir conducted by stijn kolacny & accompanied on piano by steven kolacny.

see more animated work by this dutch artist @ http://www.strandbeasts.com

ralph & i have a show in three weeks @ turman larison contemporary, in helena: "sequent", april 22 - may 21. reception: friday, april 22, 6-9pm.  downtown, around the corner from the holter art museum.

i love jose parla's streetwise lyrical paintings. this piece feels so ephemeral to me. like i just want to be there and experience it before it dissipates. thank you paul budnitz for enlightening me. see more of jose's work: http://www.joseparla.com/

my mother's brother, uncle bruce, lives in australia & sent this passport photo of my grandmother at age 19: jeanette. grannynette. e.j. too bad i didn't inherit her dark skin and wavy hair!

msu graduate student, april hale, thesis exhibition. "nature of the human animal", copeland gallery, in msu school of art, march 21 - 25. reception: thursday, march 24, 7-9pm.

rocky mountain spring, "scobey", by tom ferris, from his barnyard series. 

.

alison truman. alison L. truman. alison linda truman nee redner. my mom. she had a big heart. 6.23.1937 - 3.9.2011

cameback inn, scottsdale, az. circa 1965

after our 12th (!) extreme weather event i am dreaming of swimming in warm salty seas. this panel is from a recent series: 31"x31"x3", encaustic on panel, 12/2010. 

wow. last night @ msu, roz mortimer, london based multi-media artist & filmmaker - and msu school of film & photography visiting artist - showed some of her acclaimed short films + invisible: a beautiful, thought-provoking & hypnotic journey through the arctic. roz pushes the boundaries of documentary. for more info check out: http://www.wonder-dog.co.uk/invisible

check out the big sky documentary film festival february 11 - 20, missoula, mt. its world class.  http://www.bigskyfilmfest.org/

power to the people! 

really looking forward to seeing cathryn mallory's large sculptural exhibition, "adorned constraint", @ the holter art museum in helena. cathryn & i had a show together @ the cordell taylor gallery in salt lake city in 1998. Her provocative new work explores how dress & adornment define social structure, ritual & identity: jan 21 - april 15.

i was traveling in the mid-west during the big winter storm - wow! here it is moving northeast.

southeast arizona road trip - copper king hotel bar mural.

classic arizona sunset as we came out from hiking in the chiricahuas. this s.e. arizona roadtrip is fueling my new body of work for a show @ turman-larison contemporary w/ralph wiegmann, opening april, 22nd.

we stayed @ the slaughter ranch - for 1800's owner, sheriff john slaughter - on the az/border. it was formerly called the san bernadino ranch and is part of the san bernadino national wildlife refuge. Great birdwatching. the ranch was 65,000 acres and has a large natural spring feeding the pond you can see in this photo. amazing oasis in the sonoran desert border country.

bisbee, arizona - a contemporary version of "homeland security since 1492" 

standing on the border near douglas, arizona. the tall walls of fencing you may hear about are only near towns and border crossings.

over the MLK weekend, we paid homage to the tucson shooting victims at the memorial outside the hospital where gabrielle giffords was miraculously recovering. (she was transferred to a texas traumatic brain injury hospital yesterday). there were 14 others wounded. six were killed. those victims are:  gabe zimmerman, 30, former social worker/giffords' aid;  christina green, age 9;  pastor dorwin stoddard, 76;  us district judge john roll, 63;  dorothy murray, 76;  phyllis scheck, 79. 

i admire bernd haussmann's fluid, layered, paintings and was fortunate to see his show in az. another favorite artist, collage painter fausto fernandez, also had work at gebert comtemporary on main street in scottsdale: http://www.gebertartaz.com/. haussmann image above; fernandez below:

this is an image of earth art work that matthew moore created in waddell, az - which is where i am originally from and where i am heading for the long weekend. waddell is west of phoenix, below the white tanks mountains, and was entirely desert and farmland. in recent years it has been succumbing to urban sprawl. moore grew the crops and plowed this farm field into the shape of the proposed subdivision. to see more of moore's work about encroaching development, check out: http://www.urbanplough.com/. 

here's a shot of the commissioned series i completed & shipped out just before the new year: "buon anno, I - VI", encaustic on panel, 101"w x 66"h x 3"d. it was inspired by the desert southwest (where i am from and where it will live) and mediterranean colors (places i was dreaming of this past november and december). i would have posted the pic sooner, but my photographer/ friend just had twins - mia and august.

solomon said goodbye to our christmas tree last weekend. that's dick dorworth's new book next to him, the perfect turn.

ralph's drawing on a kidrobot munny for the gallatin valley skate park "munnyraiser" last year: http://gallatinvalleyskatepark.com/munny-raiser/

msu professor, and encaustic artist, sara mast exhibition: "as above, so below", january 9 - 30 @ the rosenfeld gallery, 113 arch street, philadelphia, pa. ph: 215.922.1376. opening reception: sunday, january 9th, noon - 5pm.

it dropped in fall '09 but i was still listening to it all of 2010. still a fav...home! 

seaside. 5" x 5", encaustic on wood mini

we spent new years eve at a cabin with dear friends...ate delicious tacos, watched fireworks from the campfire, and brought in the new year with champagne and dancing to michael jackson and 80's - 90's hip-hop. it was just what i needed after many weeks of solitary hours in the studio working on a big commission. here's an ian kellett snapshot of ralph and david quammen out for a late ski & tromp.

shot at the iversons' ranch

tom ferris stopped by christmas day. here's a pic of his "northern border collies". those are the real deal in the background, sam & francis.

refining final layers on the 6-panel commission: 31h" x 31w" x 3d" each panel.

a favorite song from 2010

refining layers on the 6-panel series commission

details of work-in-progress

self-portraits from jen & sadee in my representational drawing class @ msu. 

some final project drawings from sam & lexi in my representational drawing class/art 238 @ msu. students could include imaginative elements with representational elements. they were asked to use a strong tonal range and address the full picture plane to create a sense of foreground, middle-ground, and background, with or without the use of a horizon line. receding and/or overlapping elements add to the sense of depth.

william wrather keshishian. a song for you

i have a little triptych in the turman-larison contemporary holiday show. 

early processing: developing surface, color & design

graphic novel style work from film student, louie, in my representational drawing class 

new work from my friend kelly ann burns in nyc. her studio is in the can factory in brooklyn. see more @: http://www.kellyannburns.com/

early in the additive & subtractive process of developing layers:

i am psyched to be working on an installation of six 31" x 31" x 3" panels. here's a pic from the early stages: